


String Quartet in C-Minor

by madradena



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Healing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:47:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 104,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23087236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madradena/pseuds/madradena
Summary: Set after the end of Season 3. Alucard has been living his voluntary life of solitude for over a year now. As the mundane is occasionally disturbed by an ill-willed intruder, his Forest of the Dead steadily grows. He doesn't need stuffed toys of his friends to talk to them anymore, Trevor and Sypha appearing in his imagination as vividly as if they were actually there has now become second nature. Having a habit he has no will or strength to fight, he tries to get the most amusement out of his friends appearing in the most impossible situations, though he knows they're also a good sign of him steadily losing his mind.One gloomy day, yet another intruder arrives at his door: Sister Mioara, a nun, who impudently tries to disrupt his comfortable psychosis.
Comments: 46
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

The leaves were still wet and dripping after the autumn downpour as Alucard was walking among the trees. He turned his head up; the clouds didn't want to give up their rule over the sun. He grimaced at the towering black gloom growing in the skies. It was almost like his Castle was flying above him. He quickened his pace. It hadn't stopped raining the last days. As if it never wanted to stop. His stomach growled, and he put a hand to it with a frown. He didn't feel like coming out in all the wetness, so he went without food for a few days, but his hunger drove him out eventually. 

Yet another day with a fish meal, he thought walking soundlessly along the banks of the river. He pouted at the thought. If he wanted to be frank, he got terribly bored by eating only fish and berries and vegetables - for a whole year now. But he still hadn't got the stomach to hunt. He just couldn't find it in his heart to kill a living breathing warm furry little thing, just to have a good meal. 

"We did kill such things, just called them night creatures, so you're being ridiculous," he muttered squatting on a large smooth stone and leaned above the waves. A fish stopped to eat some moss. He was just about to grab it when laughter startled him, and he missed his prey.

"At least, we agree on something," he heard from behind. He turned frowning and spotted Trevor lying on a thick branch up in a tree with his arms crossed in front of his chest and legs crossed at the ankle. He seemed disgustingly comfortable.

"Shut up, Belmont, you're frightening my prey off."

Trevor snickered, "As if it could hear _me_."

Alucard turned back to the water and the next moment, heard his friend from above his shoulder:

"Don't move about, you need to stay completely motionless." 

"You're teaching _me_ how to catch a fish, Belmont?" Alucard asked looking into the eyes of his friend squatting next to him.

"A tramp knows more about that sort of thing than a spoiled noble bastard like yourself, so yes, I am."

Alucard opened his mouth but a far away clap of thunder reminded him that he needed to hurry if he didn't want to be soaked to skin.

"Why don't you simply open a tinned can of blood from your daddy's cellar?" Trevor asked from the other side of the river. "Wha, don't look at me with _that_ face, it's not like I'm suggesting that to your Highness the Pope or something."

Alucard snorted. "Somehow I find eating yet another fish meal more appealing than puking for a whole night. And now shut up."

"Your daddy wouldn't have been proud of you that night, that's as sure a thing as me loving beer."

"He's not going to shut up, is he?" Alucard whispered standing and started to walk.

"Admit it, he is amusing at times," he heard Sypha from his side and knew she was walking next to him without having to look.

"He certainly must be to _you_ ," he replied, and she laughed her tinkling laugh.

" _You_ wouldn't know."

True, he hadn't heard about his friends since they left over a year ago after his father died. But as they left together, and Sypha seemed most fascinated with everything that doofus was doing, Alucard was fairly certain they got ... well, romantically involved after all. He crossed his arms looking only ahead. 

"You are jealous!"

"I am not. It is completely understandable that a woman with knowledge in her head that could fill a dozen bookcases would choose a brute who barely could read capital letters. If you did get married, I bet he signed his name with an X on the certificate. But look on the bright side," he said smiling at her, "if you ever got bored, you can always say it wasn't actually him signing it, and could get it annulled."

She pouted rolling her eyes. "If I did get married to him, it might have been because he wasn't sassy like a certain someone."

He felt Trevor's heavy arm land on his shoulders, and he grunted under the weight looking into the mirthful eyes of his friend. "Or it was simply because that brute didn't have to compensate with the longest sword in fencing history for what he had in his pants."

"You-" Alucard started, and Trevor laughed. He groaned annoyed. "You were far less witty in real life, but I must admit it's difficult to imagine someone _that_ dumb." He then stopped short sensing an unfamiliar scent in the air.

"Stranger," Trevor growled.

"It's a woman," Sypha added. "What is she doing here?"

"Looking for trouble," Alucard breathed reaching the edge of the clearing where the Castle stood. 

There she was, lingering a few yards from his Forest of the Dead guarding the entrance. She seemed to be contemplating his handiwork with a hand in front of her mouth. Would she actually retch?

"She's a nun, look at her clothes," Sypha said indicating the woman's gray robes swallowing her petite figure and thick veil covering all of her hair. 

"Robes are excellent places to hide a dagger in," Trevor replied.

"Why would a nun wear a dagger?" Sypha asked edgy.

"Why would she be a real nun?"

"Why do you need to think that everybody is a potential assassin?" she asked with her hands on her hips.

"You're right, she could as well be a thief," Trevor said.

Sypha let out a long breath and turned to Alucard.

"What do _you_ think?"

Alucard watched the woman, breathing her scent in. "Mmm, I think ... I'm going with Trevor on this one. Whoever comes up to my gates despite the Forest could have no good intentions."

"Ah, at least check if she really hides a weapon or not before terrifying her to death," Sypha said in a begging voice.

Trevor put his arm around Alucard's shoulder leaning close to his ear. "Yeah. Do a full body search!"

Alucard squinted his eyes. "Now-now, that's more authentically Trevor Belmont. Those are the depths you'd reach indeed, wouldn't you, my friend: groping in the robes of a nun."

His eyes glowed red before he disappeared, and as the wind billowed the robes of the nun, he appeared behind her. She had no time to react. He grasped her and pointed his long vampire nails to her throat. She gasped, and her body became rigid against his own.

"Look what the cat dragged here," he whispered into her ear.

"Ah, please-"

"It seems my message is not conveyed clear enough, or is it?"

"Me-message?"

He turned her face forcefully by the chin to look at the skeletons and rotting corpses of his very own Forest of the Dead. "Those two, they came to me to teach them to fight vampires. And then tried to kill me in my own bed. That one there, he came to the Castle to ask for water and tried to leave with the silverware. And those four," he turned her to the most fresh ones, "they were his relatives, trying to take revenge for him by setting my home on fire. Should I go on or you'll tell me which is it?" he asked, his voice turning hard. "Thief, arsonist - or murderer?"

She moaned, and he could feel she was shaking in his arms. "Neither," she moaned.

"Liar it is then," he whispered, pressing his nails into her skin.

"N-no!" 

Her chest was heaving under his arm, and he could feel her heart racing. He _hated_ lies. He tightened his grip on her, and she cried out in pain as he felt her warm blood trickling down her neck under his fingers. The smell was both tantalizing and nauseating, and he vaguely wondered how on Earth he could feel two emotions so unlike to each other at the very same time. He hissed into her ear deciding to go with the former - at least his lunch problem was solved.

"Please," she sobbed. "I-I'm Sister Mioara from the Order of Valenia. And I only came because of your books."

Alucard's hand stopped. "My books."

"Yes. The books in the library underground that you guard."

That was an odd excuse from a liar slash arsonist slash ... whatever other horrors humans were capable of. He was surprised to see her stumble forward, realizing just then that he'd let her go.

She turned to him pressing her palm to her neck. When she took her hand away and saw the blood she stared at him horrified.

"It's superficial," he said. "If I wanted you dead, I'd already be putting you up there," he motioned to the _free_ stakes.

She swallowed and letting her arm drop, she straightened her back. Her face spoke of defiance he realized with a hint of surprise. _'Well. I did not list the last option to choose from: being plain stupid for coming here.'_ Why else would she be looking at a creature that almost ripped her throat out without anything but terror if not out of obtuseness?

"Suppose that I believe that you're just a nun. What do you want with my library?"

She let out a long breath and wiping her tears, looked at him more calmly. 

"We're teaching small children at the nunnery. Some of them are orphans, others have no other opportunity for an education. But our library burned down a month ago. It wasn't big to begin with. But now we have no means to carry out our mission."

"How do you know about the Belmont Hold?"

"It's common knowledge in the town that there's a treasury and library under the old Estate. It has been for decades. Only the people didn't know how to get to it. Luckily, I might add, otherwise it would be all empty. The treasures sold by thieves to the rich, and the books burned in the fireplaces of the poor." Her voice was silent, and Alucard found it unnervingly relaxing.

He scoffed. "You want to teach vampire-hunting and magic to children? That is an unusual school if I ever have seen one." 

"It's not ways of killing that I want to teach. And you should know your library contains more than that. What I need is books by Plato, Socrates, Cicero. Perhaps others that could light a candle in the darkness of our times."

"Suppose I believed that you know how to read those, I never heard of the Catholic Church officially teaching Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. And if you don't want to end up burned alive at the stake of the Inquisition, I'd stop saying such names out loud."

She took a small step toward him, "Why, my lord? Would _you_ report me?"

He grunted and resisted the urge to take a step back. "You really are just plain stupid," he muttered, not realizing he said the words aloud. When her frown deepened, he added, "you're not scared of me."

She took a short breath. "I am... I'm terrified." 

"Yet you're standing here, asking for my books. Yes, I apologize, I was wrong before, you're not stupid. You're _crazy_. Now, return to your asylum and have a very good day," he said turning and started for the gates.

"Wait, please!" he heard from behind, but he just walked up the stairs as she spoke. "Over twenty-one years ago, a brave woman came to this Castle and knocked on your father's door. To seek knowledge of the true science."

He swirled around to stare at her with wide eyes and watched gaping as she went on standing there amongst the stiff rotting bodies. Radiant and _alive_.

"She took up the courage to ask that of the most fearsome man in the world," she went on. "Because she wanted to help people. And her just cause melted the heart of that man enough to grant her wish."

"How do you know of my mother?" he asked stumbling a step down.

"My Order knows much of Lisa Tepes. She's a paragon for us. Like Saint Bridget who practiced medicine and midwifery during the time of the Black Death, or Trota of Salerno who wrote books that are still in use. By men. All women like Lisa who wanted to better human lives."

"And look what became of that. She doesn't even have a grave, her ashes were scattered on the fields of the Church as fertilizer." A sob chocked his throat, and he turned away.

"Your father helped your mother to learn," he heard her soft voice. "I'm not even asking that of you. I'm only asking for a few books to teach from."

"I'm not my father," he said, and started to walk, "and you're not my mother. Now, leave me alone!" His voice reverberated in the air for a moment before the gates closed behind him with a thud. 

He stumbled to the stairs of the hall out of breath, and grabbing hold of the banister, sat; his knees were too week to keep his weight.

"I should have staked her, I should simply have staked her," he whispered feeling tears coming to his eyes.

"Or at least do that body search," Trevor chimed in appearing next to him. Alucard looked at him with haunted eyes as he shrugged, "She wasn't entirely bad looking for a nun, your hand could have slipped. At least a little to the right, eh?"

"You terrified her," Sypha said on a strict voice standing above them. "It's not like she wanted to move in to the Hold or would have the chance to harm you. What difference would it have made if you gave her a few books?"

"Yeah, there are some spare copies of the basics she wanted. After all, my family were hoarders and wouldn't do with one copy of each." Trevor rested his elbows behind him on the stairs and stretched his legs. "She'd end up burning on the fire of those same books in a couple of weeks anyway. At least the lumbers wouldn't come to your woods for fuel." 

Alucard stared ahead for a short while then stood.

Mioara was already walking down the road in the woods when he appeared in front of her out of thin air. She took a frightened step back, and he cocked his head to one side.

"How many books did you say you wanted?"


	2. Chapter 2

Opening his eyes a crack, Alucard saw Sumi's naked body moving above him. Though he was bound to the bed by the sharp wires that burned viciously into his skin, it was still depravingly pleasurable to feel her riding him so skillfully, and he shut his eyes as a deep growl welled up waiting to erupt like a geyser. And then he felt cold drops landing on his face, and he saw her throat starting to slit. First just a few thin spurts came, then a fountain of blood was gushing from the gorging wound. Despite the wires, somehow he could still sit up and putting his arm tenderly around her tiny waist, he leaned to her neck to kiss it all away. Then the smell changed, and he was no longer holding Sumi. He buried his face into Mioara's bleeding throat standing outside amongst his Forest of the Dead. He stopped short realizing what he was doing.

"Why stop?" he heard his own voice from the side. Looking up, there he was, floating a few inches above ground. His eyes were glinting red, his pointed ears were visible through his golden hair, his claws were long and deadly as he wiped his mouth with his hand, and his fangs were shining when he took his hand away. "You want to do that, don't you?" his vampiric self asked him; the Forest of the Dead towering proudly behind him.

He gasped, his eyes widening - getting scared of his own self.

"No, you don't!" he heard from the other side, and he turned his head just to see himself again standing a few feet away. No pointed ears, no claws, no fangs, no red glint. A rabbit and a squirrel at his feet, behind him the nurturing oak forest surrounding the Castle. Just a young man with an innocent entreating look on his face. "You're not an animal. Look at her!"

He raised his head and saw her terrified eyes.

"Yes," the other hissed, "she's scared. Drink her fear in!" 

"No! You're better than this. Better than a simple murderer. She did nothing against you."

"Humans are just livestock. No one asks the cattle if they committed a crime before they're slaughtered."

"You do care! Otherwise, you'd have let your father's war endure."

The claws of the vampire tore into his arm, and he hissed: "Do it, Son of Vlad Tepes!"

The human touched his arm taking his hand off of Mioara. "Don't do it, Adrian!"

And he sat up gasping and disoriented in his black stone coffin. He sat there for a good few heartbeats until he understood it was just a dream. Just another one of his many nightmares. He looked around still panting, wiping the sweaty hair away from his face then he let out a long breath. His hands dropped into his lap, and his knuckles knocked on something. Looking down he saw the hardcover book, and he realized he must have fallen asleep with his father's journals still in his hands. _Well. No wonder you have nightmares reading a book wrapped in human skin..._

He got out of 'bed' and slouching, shuffled to his washing bowl. He felt drained. He poured some water and washed his face, hoping the cold water would energize him a little. His hopes were soon dashed looking at his tired face in the mirror. Studying his reflection, he rubbed the days-old stubble on his chin, then wiped a few drops of water from under his puffy eyes. 

"Did I look that bad yesterday?" he breathed.

"You've been looking like that for about a year now," Trevor's face descended into view upside down from above, mussed up hair hanging.

Alucard frowned. "You can't do that, so get off the ceiling."

"I'm in your imagination. I can do whatever I like," Trevor replied walking a few steps like a bat.

Alucard went back examining his face. When had he last had a shave? He combed through his long disheveled locks with his fingers. It looked like a haystack on top of his head, and he vaguely expected to find eggs in it. Or a hen ready to lay them.

He took his bristle brush and got to work.

"Well," he heard Sypha from behind, "I'm glad to see _she_ has a good influence on you!"

"Who?" he asked moodily.

"The nun. She's coming today again, isn't she?"

Alucard grunted. Yes, the impudent woman. Fifty books. She wanted to take fifty books. Of course, she brought no cart to take them all in one go, so she promised to return today. 

"I'm not combing for her," he muttered, then shrugged. "But there's no harm in being presentable. After all, she's a guest."

"Uninvited guest," Trevor reminded him.

"And I'm no tramp."

"Tell that to the mirror."

Alucard shot him a dirty look.

"Don't listen to him, Alucard," Sypha said, and he saw her reflection appear next to his in the mirror. "Make yourself presentable, the way a noble man does when expecting a lady."

"Yeah, which reminds me, your clothes stink too," Trevor remarked standing at his other side. 

Alucard looked down at himself. He'd been wearing the same set of clothes day and night for ... how long? He squinted spotting a dark stain on his white shirt. Was it her blood? Or was it the brain matter of one of the arsonists he last had to stake? He took his shirt off and looked at his lone reflection again. He felt disgust forming a lump in his throat seeing his burn-marks. He ran a tentative finger over the one crossing his chest. It spoke of nothing but his gullibility, of his stupidity! And it all came back. How he let the new and exciting pleasurable sensations make him lower his guards. How _they_ found a weak spot of him - one he never even was aware of having! How foolishly he was thinking that he finally found love and acceptance. And how they made him so helpless under their hungry little mouths that they could actually get a real chance at killing him... If any woman was to see those marks, how else would she look at them - at him - but with the same disgust he saw on his own face? 

He swirled around, away from his reflection and strode to the laundry room for new clothes.

"Look at the bright side, you used the bodies of those two urchins for what they were worth," Trevor said leaning to the doorpost of the dimly lit basement room.

Alucard turned a few shirts over to find one that was the least crumpled. "You mean for guarding my Castle in their deaths."

"I mean, for a good f-" Trevor couldn't finish, because Sypha put a hand on his lips.

"You had no other choice but to kill them, Alucard," she said. "And putting their dead bodies on display was a necessity nothing more. You felt no pleasure doing that."

He let out a sharp breath, "Would you please leave me alone at least while I'm dressing?" he snapped, and his two friends disappeared. 

Groaning, he leaned his bare back to the wall. He felt an odd sense of guilt forming for chasing away his imaginary friends. After all, they were the only things that kept him from completely losing his mind. Or were they a definite sign of it already happening? 

"You think we're gone?" Sypha's head appeared upside down in front of his face, and she laughed at his startled stare. "Oh, come on! Just do your morning routine. There's nothing to be embarrassed about, we've seen everything already. We're in your head after all."

He grimaced. "I thought _I_ was the boss here."

"Oh, sure you are. Now, get a move on and clean up before the woman shows up. No one wants a nun to see a naked vampire bathing in the creek."

He rolled his eyes and obeyed.

* * *

His hair was still damp when he walked down the stairs from the gates, tidy and clean. Mioara was standing a good few feet away from his "guards", at the very edge of the clearing. 

"Good morning," she greeted him with a tentative smile, and he grunted something in return. He then caught her eyes looking him over from head to toe, and he frowned uncomfortable.

"Is there a problem?"

"Oh, no. No... I just ... You're ... You know, this coat is really nice."

He looked down at himself. He straightened the front of his coat running his gloved hand down on it. "Thank you." He cleared his throat. "Yo-your robe is nice too," he stammered and seeing her stunned gape, rolled his eyes inwardly. What was nice about that heavy frieze piece of cloth swallowing her up? You're being quite an idiot, idiot...

He felt his cheeks burning, but somehow the fact that she was just as flushed as he was in the cold late-autumn morning made him relax a little.

He cleared his throat again. "I thought you'd bring a cart. To take all the books."

"Yes, I'm sorry, I couldn't find one. It's still harvest time, everybody is using their carts."

He nodded vaguely and spotted the two baskets in her hands.

"Oh, yes, one is for the books, and," she held up one of them. "one is for you, my lord."

He frowned confused but took the basket from her. Holding it in one hand, he moved away the table cloth from the contents. It was food. Freshly made and smelled better than anything he smelled for a year now. He looked at her dumbly, again feeling heat rising to his cheeks.

"In gratitude for giving our school your beautiful books."

He looked back into the basket, and she went on.

"Oh, it's fried blood and black pudding with some rolls and sour cabbage."

He stared at her taken aback.

"It's not human! Of course...

"Oh..." he nodded thinking he should look disappointed to keep up the facade - but he couldn't have been more relieved.

"One of our patronage had a pig killing at the weekend, and I asked him for anything he could give me that had blood in it," she explained with a nervous smile. He looked into her eyes, and she shrugged wriggling her nun-ring on her finger. "If you don't like it, you may give it to your friends, of course."

"I live alone."

"You do? I-I ... I thought I heard you talking before you came out-"

"Oh, I was just ... just ..." Think quickly, idiot! What would be less embarrassing to say? Reading aloud or singing?

But Mioara smiled wistfully. "It's alright," she said in a low voice before he could embarrass himself further, and looked into his eyes with deep sympathy. "When I have to make penitence and I'm confined to my cell for weeks, I talk to myself too." He gaped as she added, "the human mind doesn't handle loneliness well."

He felt an inexplicable rage welling up - what was this woman thinking?! "I'm no _human_!"

She turned her hand up. "But you're no vampire either to be able to live isolated like a hermit. Do you think they don't meet up every once in a while? Otherwise they'd be no use to god being just a bunch of crazy people scattered in the forests," she said wincing.

"I'm not a crazy person either!"

"I never said you were-"

"And I don't need your so called gift!" he said pushing the basket back into her hand. She stared at him shocked. "Do you think I don't know what this is all about? You're trying to gain my trust, so I'd happily eat your meal which is for sure poisoned. So tomorrow you could take _all_ my books over my dead body. You think I'm an imbecile?"

"You certainly aren't one, but you are surely not falling short of the former group of people we were talking about!" she retorted. "Your paranoia is pathological, my lord," she put the basket down on the ground. "Yes, of course, I brought you breakfast to poison you. I got up at four in the morning so I could bake you rolls and make you a strawberry pie just to gain your trust, so that after recovering from my weak and obtuse effort of poisoning a man who can regenerate his body in moments, you could put me up there on a fresh stake."

"There's strawberry pie in there?" he blurted, his eyes glued to the basket. 

"Yes... yes there is..." she stammered with a raised eyebrow.

Looking at her, he involuntarily winced. He must have come across like a real lunatic even though he was just a beginner in the trade. 

"It's better if you take that back," he said and was surprised that it came out as a whisper.

She took a small step to him and caught his downcast eyes. "Give it to the animals of the forest then, but don't ask me to carry it back home on the two hours trip when I'm supposed to bring another dozen of books home as well."

He stared at her dumbstruck. Two hours? She was walking two hours? He looked into her eyes. They weren't less tired than his were when he had looked into the mirror. Except that hers were tired because she got up so early to make him a meal. He frowned noticing how beautiful her hazel eyes were. Trevor was right, she wasn't a bad looking woman for a nun.

He took an awkward step back. "Two hours walk. Well. If there's one thing you cannot be called is not being dedicated."

"Every important thing is achieved through effort, isn't it? If somebody should know how true that is, it's you."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he just motioned with his hand toward the Belmont Hold. "Shall we?"

* * *

Alucard watched Mioara looking terrified as his makeshift lift took them down into the belly of the Hold. 

"What is it?" he asked finally, getting slightly annoyed. 

"I'm terribly scared of heights," she breathed. She looked up at him hugging herself. "You sure the staircase cannot be repaired?"

"It would take some time."

"Hmm..." she nodded and shut her eyes as they descended and left the portrait of Leon Belmont. 

If Alucard didn't know better he'd have to say she looked more scared now than of him yesterday. That was one irritating thought if he ever had one. He put so much effort into trying to be as scary as his father used to be in the last year - and here she was, not only surviving an encounter with him, but showing more fear of stupid _gravity_ than of him. Impudent woman!

"You know. If you try to steal anything from the Hold, I'll rip your throat out," he said on his most hissy-growly vampire voice.

She opened her eyes and looked at him bemused.

"Also, if you ruin any of the books or objects down there, or make an accidental fire, or-"

"I think I get it," she cut him off, and she shivered when the lift stopped at the bottom of the pit. She got out. "But, my lord, you should take it into consideration that my blood could also ruin books, so you might want to do the throat ripping upstairs," she said absently wandering towards the entrance.

"Impudent woman," he muttered with a deep frown as he anchored the lift.

"Pardon?" she asked turning back to him.

"Er-er... This way," he motioned to the door.

They went inside, and he turned on the lighting. The cold illumination filled the library, and he looked at her face expectantly for traces of wonderment. But there was nothing ground shaking only a slight surprise. He frowned and bit his tongue rather than commenting on her lack of astonishment. He showed her the way down the stairs.

"Was the technology of lighting preserved from the Ancient Roman culture or from the Achaemenidian?" she asked casually turning her head around.

He glanced at her trying to hide his surprise. "Both."

She was politely curious throughout the guided tour he was giving her, but didn't look like somebody seeing a library for the first time. And it was irritating! She should be overwhelmed and excited like Sypha used to be coming down here, or ... or Taka and Sumi... He turned and took a few steps from where she was paging through the index. 

How could he actually miss them after what had happened? Why was it so difficult to think of them as murderers and why was his first thought about them always that they were confused children needing his guidance and help? And the regret that he couldn't give those things to them, couldn't save them with love and care... His traitor heart. 

"Maybe you should stake yourself as well," he heard Trevor.

He squinted at his friend. "Not now," he growled.

"Why not, the woman is so imbued in the books anyway."

Alucard crossed his arms arriving at the cabinet of vampire skulls. His heart sank every time he was coming here, seeing the sheer number of his people put on display. Now at least, he gave some of it back up there!

"At times, it must be difficult for you to guard this place without hating it," he heard the gentle female voice from behind.

He sighed. "Sometimes, I think that naughty Belmont of yours gave me all this only to get back at me for the barbs."

"Pardon?" he heard from beside him and only in that moment did he realize that it was _not_ Sypha he was talking to. His face turned impossibly red.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing sneaking up on me like that?!" 

Mioara's brows knitted in confusion. "Uh, I thought I stood no chance at sneaking up on a vampire, but I take this as a compliment at a never before discovered ability."

"You- ...You're a ..."

She raised her hands, "Alright, I'm sorry if I startled you. Could we talk about more important things? There's something I need to show you."

He let out an indignant breath, "Did you select the books you're taking? Because I don't have all day."

"Yes, I assume your agenda is full with all the throat ripping and staking appointments."

He gaped in disbelief. This woman was impossible! "You really are not afraid, are you? You know what, I'll really do it. I'll stake you and we can continue this conversation from there." He was surprised to hear his voice actually saying those things aloud. He didn't want her to see how irritated she could make him.

She let out an exasperated breath. "Why do you need me to be scared of you so much?" She looked into his confused eyes tiredly. "Look, if you think I'm absolutely unafraid of a man who wanted to _drink_ me yesterday and who mentioned ripping my throat out at least three times only in the last hour, you're sorely mistaken. I'm a nun with no means to defend herself from a man with unearthly abilities, other than bringing the topic of his mother up. Which I presume won't work twice. But for some reason, yesterday you let me live. Can't we both accept that fact and move on from having to establish that you're the stronger one, over and over again?"

He opened his mouth to reply, then as no word came out, shut it. He tried it again and frowned frustrated. She raised her brows, and he crossed his arms. "What was it that you wanted to show me, Sister Mioara?"

A slow smile spread over her lips. "You may call me Sister Mia. It's easier."

He nodded and watched her standing there expectantly. He let out a breath and dropped his arms. "You may call me Alucard."

"If you wish. But you know your mother wouldn't approve of your choice of name."

His jaw dropped. "Do you know everything about my mother, for god's sake?"

"Of course not. But it's not too difficult to understand a mother's concern for his son having a fate as the opposition of his father." She waved it away. "Please, come, I'll show you what I found."

* * *

"And then, the impudent woman tells me that half the books in the last three rows of cases are not indexed at all. And not only that, but she tells me, that as a form of gratitude she'd help me fix that!" Alucard explained on a higher pitched voice he'd ever heard himself speaking, while Trevor and Sypha were sitting at the kitchen table. He put the basket Mia'd brought him in the morning on the table.

"This is all your fault, Belmont!"

Trevor leaned forward cocking his head. "How is it my fault again that you're developing a soft spot for what's supposed to be your food?"

"Repeat that, and I swear ... It's your fault because if your obtuse ancestors had done their jobs properly, she wouldn't have the chance to come back after taking her damn books away."

Sypha giggled propping her chin on her crossed fingers. "She certainly found a way back into the Hold. And not just for a few days."

Alucard put a palm on the table and leaned close to her. "I am the least concerned with the Hold right now. If I could, I'd set it on fire and spread salt on its scorched remains."

"So what's your problem if not the Hold?" Trevor asked. "I thought I asked you to guard it. Now, you're employing what sounds like a librarian but who looks like a mole paid by the Catholic Church. If you're concerned with something, it should definitely be the Hold."

Alucard collapsed in a chair and lay his forehead in his palm. "I know ... It's just she's..." he muttered in a barely audible voice. "She's annoying the soul out of me." 

Sypha appearing behind him slipped her arms around his neck, holding him close. "Aw, don't you see Trevor? Our dhampir little brother here is having a crush!"

Trevor chuckled. "On a nun, no less! Shame, cos you can't even pull her pigtail." 

"I am _not_!" Alucard retorted springing to his feet. "And if you ever say that again, I'll ... stake my own brain to get rid of the two of you."

He could tell they were not too scared of the idea - by the burst of loud laughter. 

Trevor put his feet on the table, wiping his eye. "So are we going to have that poisoned strawberry pie, or not?" Alucard grimaced, and he spread his arms. "What? You did bring that food in for something. If we need to die, let's die of something tasty than of a stake in your haystack, shall we?"


	3. Chapter 3

_I don't remember too much of the years before I was turned. It's all rather a blur with a few images surfacing. A few sensations. No wonder, I suppose. At that time, I had a simple human mind and not the infinite memory of a vampire._

_What I clearly remember is being held hostage with my younger brother, Radu. The Enemy wanted to make sure our father remained faithful to him so he kept us prisoners and sent my father home alone. Radu was crying day and night. He was very little, and he missed our mother. I remember his teary-snotty red face. And I remember hating my father for it._

_So much time passed in that rocky cell up in the mountains - or was it only days? I couldn't tell. Radu was always watching the ships in the bay through the window, hoping he'd spot the sails of our father. I wasn't watching the sea. I knew our father gave up on us. I was looking out the other window to see the backyard of the castle of the Enemy. Where the executions were done. The executioner was doing his job with such precision that it was fascinating to watch. The criminals were dead within seconds. I believe the man must have had a great deal of mercy in his heart. And I remember wondering, why have mercy on the criminals? They wronged others, they betrayed others, they caused pain - why spare them of it? Why not invest all that expertise in giving them all the pain they deserved? So one day I caught a mouse. And found a short, sharp stick in the haystack that was our bed with Radu. And at night, while he was sleeping, I was experimenting... Radu found it interesting that after a while, there were no more mice in our cell. I found it frustrating having to do with only watching the inefficiency of the executioner from the window again._

_I don't remember my first wife. I don't remember her name or what she looked like. I believe she gave birth to a son ... or perhaps a girl. Then I had a second wife, her name was ... Justina ... she was betrothed to me by the neighbor country's king. She felt as much love for me as I for her in an arranged marriage. She gave me a son too perhaps. One that I loved with the same passion as the wife. It doesn't really matter, they are all long gone now. It was a relief when I became a widower after I was turned. Finally, I didn't have to pretend that I was like any other man. Didn't have to pretend that I cared. Because even in an arranged marriage women need that facade and expect that of their husbands. But all they ever did in return was bore me._

_And then Lisa came. It wasn't like she melted something that was frozen. No. I'm sure there was nothing there to melt. Not even before I was turned. It was more like she created something new and alive out of that nothingness ... I realized it the first time when she broke a glass flask in the laboratory, and the liquid inside burned a century old carpet. I knew I should have ripped her hand off for it - but she looked at me smiling and pointing to the burned silhouette, "Oh, it's the shape of a bat!" And I laughed. It was as if I invented laughter in that very moment, standing in the laboratory. Looking right into her beautiful eyes. I still don't know how she did it. But s_ _he managed to make the heart of Dracula grow and throb in his chest as if a thousand butterflies were fluttering inside..._

* * *

Alucard woke slowly still holding his father's journals tightly in his arms. He remained motionless for a few seconds feeling the tears running down his cheeks. Then took a long breath and sat up. He squinted against the sharp morning sun coming through the curtains and looked around. He'd fallen asleep in his living room. The only room he really tidied up in the last year and decorated the way he liked. With all the paintings of his family and with a few new ones he had made in a month of obsession with painting. There were several portraits of his mother, one of his father and some more of his two friends. Smiling cheekily down at him in the morning sunlight.

Putting the book down on the low table in front of the couch he was slouching on, he wiped his cheeks.

"Why do you read that if it keeps making you all weepy?" he heard Trevor from the door. 

He kept his eyes on the book. "That's the only way I can be close to them."

"You really are losing your mind if you want to be close to your dad," Trevor said appearing sitting opposite him on the low table.

Alucard turned his head away. He looked at the painting he'd brought from his childhood room showing his family from the time when he was about two. "He wasn't _all_ bad, you know. He loved my mother deeply and sincerely."

"Oh, don't we all know. My freaking species almost got extinct because of that love."

"But it didn't, did it?" Alucard asked looking daggers at his friend.

"I'm sorry, is it my imagination or you weren't exactly shying away from stopping him. Any way possible."

"Yes." Alucard looked away gloomily. "But what if I was wrong?" 

"What?" It was Sypha asking the question on a high pitched voice, appearing next to Trevor. She put her hand to Alucard's forehead. Her palm was cold against his skin. "Do you have fever? You're talking nonsense!"

He waved her away. "I don't mean it _that_ way, Sypha. I meant ... what if I should have talked to him? What if I should have somehow made him listen? Made him understand that my mother would never have wanted him to avenge her like that. At least just try it one last time before ..."

"Before putting a stick into his heart?" Trevor offered.

Alucard slouched. "He let me do that because he loved me too."

Trevor snorted. "You really like pain, don't you?" he asked and got up. "Yes, sure. Talk to Dracula. How would have that conversation gone? ' _Hey, dad! Would you please stop slaughtering people so that we can kiss and make up and live on like one big happy family, you, me and the haunting souls of the tens of thousands of innocent people you killed already?_ '"

Alucard crossed his arms, his jaw tightening. What point was there in imagining his friends if they kept arguing with him?

Sypha gently unfolded his arms and took his hand. "I wish there had been another way. But there wasn't. He made his choices, and you were forced to make yours. And you made the right ones, you know that."

He looked into her eyes. "If I did, I wouldn't feel guilty. But I will for the rest of my life. And that is the very _least_ I deserve." He got up and by the time he turned back from the door, his friends were gone. He stood there surrounded by the portraits of all of his loved ones - all alone in the universe. 

He steeled himself. This was the way he was supposed to be. The way he deserved to be, so, "Just take it like a man!"

* * *

He walked down the stairs in front of the entrance of his Castle moody. He didn't feel like meeting anyone. Especially not the woman. 

Mia had been coming to the Castle for over a week now. And she'd always bring some food too. Pastries mostly, milk and cheese and fruits sometimes, things that needed going into town if you wanted to get them. Which he never did and never planned to ever do. And somehow she knew that, somehow she knew what he wished for, somehow she knew things he never said aloud. And he _hated_ that! He hated her seemingly taking care of him, hated her kind, sweet smiles, hated the butterflies in his stomach seeing those smiles. And he hated all those things today especially. His hands clenched in fists. He'd do it today. He'd simply kill her and be done with it. What did it matter when it was happening? If she came here for the next twenty years, she'd one day stop doing so because she was human. And humans were _all_ dying! Better to get over with it before those butterflies took his remaining sanity and made him do something as terrible as his father was capable of. 

She appeared at the edge of the clearing. The wind billowed her gray robes, and she raised her gaze to look at him from afar. And it was all gone. His father's dark memories, his guilt, his own terrible thoughts of a second before - the impossible weight he felt he'd been carrying all the time ... gone. He took a long breath and walked up to her.

"Good morning, my lord!" she greeted him with a smile impossible not to return.

"Sister Mia," he nodded politely.

She held up the full basket. "Your shopping, my lord." But before he took it, she lowered the basket and turned up her hand. "You see, when I told the shop keeper where I was taking the food every morning, she was positively shocked. It might do some good for your reputation in the town if you showed up sometimes and let them see you're very far from the monster they make you out to be."

"But that's exactly the point! Have the rotting corpses been lost on you by any chance?"

She let out a frustrated breath. "Of course not. But just as you're different from what people imagine you to be, people are different from what you imagine them to be too."

"Like not all of them want to kill me, just a portion of them? I'd rather not try to find out which individual belongs to which group, thank you very much."

"Ah, all I'm saying is that people act differently if they are scared. And your low expectations would be proven right exactly because of that fear. Like a self-fulfilling prediction."

"Well. That is ridiculous."

"Why?"

"Because I'm a vampire. People will always be afraid of me no matter what I do."

Mia put a fist on her side like a teacher telling off a student. "And how do you know that for sure? Have you ever tried? Have you ever made any attempt to make people see they don't need to be scared of you? Have you made any gestures?"

"I believe killing my own father for the sake of humanity is a big enough gesture, so I believe your point is moot," he said snatching the basket from her hand and turned to take it inside. He shook his head. She had an innate need to interfere with everything. He couldn't wait for the day she'd be finished with the index and all the book taking, and she'd finally just leave him alone.

Mia caught up with him and from the corner of his eye, he saw the remorseful expression on her delicate features. And then he felt her hand on his arm. He stopped short taken aback. She'd never touched him before. But now she was so comfortable with him that she actually dared touch him! He gasped as his memories of how quickly Sumi and Taka got close to him flooded his mind. How she'd put her arms around his neck playfully wrestling with him and how he'd let both of them... And he remembered the look on their faces when they were holding that knife over his bare chest.

He pulled his arm away as if he was burned. She blushed and dropped her gaze. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have interfered." She turned her head up and locked her eyes with his. "I just wish I wasn't the only one who realized what you're really like."

He shook his head slightly still under the effect of the memories. " _You_ don't know what I'm really like."

She smiled slowly. "You just wish I didn't."

"Look out!" he heard Trevor's voice, and he had only a fraction of a second to react before the fire spat by the gargoyle flying across the sky reached them. He grabbed Mia and pushing her to the ground covered her with his body. He growled feeling the fire licking his back. He straightened and quickly pulled off his burning coat. Looking at Mia, he could tell she was more terrified now of a single stupid gargoyle than she'd been on her first encounter with him. He raised a brow - was it the long blond hair that disrupted his scary image?

"Or you should wear more black," he heard Trevor again while the gargoyle spat some fire on his gate keepers on stakes residing to the left from the gate. He frowned looking from the creature turning to them again to the terrified, gaping Mia still on the ground beside him.

"Damn ..." he breathed and grabbing her arm, pulled her to her feet then started running. The gates opened on his wordless command, and he tossed her inside, the rolls from the basket running around on the carpet of the hall. Pulling out his sword he swiveled to the gates. "Don't touch anything or-"

"Or you rip my throat out, I think I know the protocol by now thank y-" she said before the gates slammed closed behind him. 

"Impudent woman," he growled shaking his head and locked eyes with the creature flying above him. Another was already feeding on the roasted smoking corpses off their skewers. 

"You think this is a garden party for you?" Alucard asked feeling his stomach turn. 

He sent his sword flying over the stakes. His eyes glowed red when he disappeared just before the flames of the gargoyle touched him. The feeding, oblivious gargoyle growled when the sword pierced its throat and came out at the back of its head. Tearing off the scorched mummified arm of the corpse, it collapsed under the stakes. Alucard appeared for a moment to take his sword from its head then disappeared again. The still living gargoyle roared in frustration when it couldn't hit him with a blast of fire for the third time.

He appeared behind it. "You know what? I can do that too!" Reaching out he spread his fingers and from the tips of his fingers sent out five tiny fireballs. The gargoyle was taken by surprise and ducked too late. They all hit its wings and it fell from the sky. Alucard cut off its head before its body hit the ground. He looked at the tips of his fingers appreciatively. "That one month of research was worth it."

"Help!" he heard a voice from the forest and turning, he saw smoke rising. 

"These pesky things will burn my forest up," he growled and ran toward the sound.

* * *

Alucard acknowledged with some relief that Mia was still standing glued to the spot he'd left her in the hall when he went inside. 

"You're alright?" she asked stepping up to him.

"Yes, but I need a new coat," he said holding up the garment: it had an enormous hole on its back. He slouched. He loved this coat. His mother embroidered the front and the cuffs, he ran his hands over the fabric regretfully.

"And a new shirt," Mia said. 

Surprised, he glanced over his shoulder and saw that a similarly gigantic hole was on the back of his shirt too, exposing most of his back; his skin already healed of the burn wounds the gargoyle had dealt. He took a step back and hugged himself shyly.

"I can fix your coat, if you like," she said smiling and a little flushed - and somehow she seemed entertained by his embarrassment.

He frowned. "Do you have some sort of an obsession with fixing _everything_ in your field of vision? The index in the Hold, my clothes, my eating habits. I'm not a child, for god's sake. And you're not my mother!" 

"Stop acting like a sulking teenager, and I'll stop acting like a mother."

He blinked at her taken aback. Sypha had told him something similar a year ago in the library. About him being an angry teenager. 

She watched him in silence for a long moment, then stepped to him and gently took the coat from his hands. "Just let me take care of the son of Lisa Tepes. Please. If not for you, then for her." 

He didn't know what to say to that. Did he really look that much like someone who needed to be taken care of? Was she really looking at him like a snotty kid? He tilted his head studying her features. How old was she? Surely older than he was but far from the age of his mother.

Holding the garment up she turned it around. "Only the back needs changing," she said glancing at him, "it's not that difficult to do." 

He let out a resigned breath. "Fine. Fix the coat. But stop mentioning my mother every time you want something. She's not the Jolly Joker of a deck of cards."

She chuckled and nodded. "Deal... I promise I won't mention her for at least a week," she said then reached out, and he fought the urge to flinch as she touched his hair. "You also need a haircut," she said holding a thick lock between her delicate fingers: the end was scorched black. She let his hair go and took a small step back biting her lower lip; her face turned red. "But I'll let you do that before you think I want to take all your dignity away," she gabbled.

He combed his fingers through his hair too feeling more and more uncomfortable. It was quite uneven, the blast that had hit his back had burned some of his locks too. He blushed. He must have looked like a scarecrow. He took the basket from her hand. "I go and change," he said on a low voice and disappeared not wanting her to see his bare back if he simply just walked off.

He came back in a clean shirt, and with his hair, though a few inches shorter than before, cut even and brushed.

Mia smiled at him as they stepped outside. "I don't think I've thanked you for saving me, so thank you."

Alucard kept his eyes strictly on the trees. "I did it only to have someone do the shopping." 

"You're impossible..." she muttered, and he glanced at her with a raised brow from the corner of his eye as they were walking in front of the Forest of the Dead.

"Uhm, Sister ..." they heard a faint whimper from among the stakes, and she stopped short.

"Did you hear that? What was that?" she asked alarmed.

"Someone who wants to be dead before the sunset," he replied walking on.

She took in a sharp breath seeing a very much alive man on a stake behind all the burned corpses, and she ran up to him.

"Oh, Sister, please have mercy!" the man was praying.

"What for the love of god have you done?!" she asked shrieking, hands in fists, and Alucard could see he'd have no choice but to walk up to them and explain, because she wouldn't just let the matter pass.

"Why are you so upset? It's not like he's dead or hurt. He's just tied up on the pole."

"Why for god's sake?"

"So that he tastes what it feels like to be part of the Forest of the Dead." 

"What?"

Alucard crossed his arms. "He came near my Castle. I'm teaching him a lesson not to do that ever again." He looked up at the man. "You feeling comfortable up there? If not, tell all your friends that's what's waiting for every single imbecile trying to invade my privacy!"

The man sobbed like a child.

"Get him off of there," Mia ordered in a dangerously calm voice. "Now."

"Or else?" Alucard asked; he was _really_ curious.

"Or else? There's no or else! Not everybody is speaking the language of threats and fear and hatred! Just be a civilized being of god and let the postman go."

"The postman?" Alucard squinted up the man. 

"Yes, he's the postman of the town. He probably had to bring you a letter. Right?" she looked at the man still in tears, and he nodded.

Alucard looked over the man again. Well, he did have a big bag at his side but who'd send him a letter? Could that be Sypha and Trevor? He looked back at Mia. Her eyes were blazing. And he suddenly became scared that she'd turn into a gargoyle herself in a second. He grunted annoyed and floating up behind the man, cut the ropes. The postman slumped to the ground like a bag of potatoes. Mia helped him get on his feet.

"How would anyone send me a letter? I do not even have an address," Alucard told him still skeptical.

"It seems the Registry Office gave you one, sir," the man said fumbling in his bag. He pulled out a wide envelope sealed with red wax. Alucard took it with a confused frown. "May I go now, sister?" the man whispered.

"No," she said still looking daggers at Alucard. "Not until he's given you a hefty tip for your services."

"What?!" the two man barked at her in unison.

"There's no need-" the postman began.

"Yes, there is. You're given tips by everyone, you practically live from that, so why would Mr. Tepes be the only exception?"

"Argh..." Alucard fumbled in his pocket and tossed a gold coin to the postman seeing that she'd not back off until she got what she wanted. _I'll kill her! I'll simply rip her head off and put her remains up on this very stake!_ Even his claws appeared for a split second he was so mad!

"Now, you may go," Mia said to the postman who didn't need any more encouragement to run into the forest as if the devil was five steps behind him.

"You know what you are?" Alucard asked feeling his head ready to implode. 

"What am I?" she asked crossing her arms.

"You're a shrew! If my father had known you, he'd have no need to summon a demon army to kill off humanity! All he'd have had to do was massproduce you and people would have readily slashed their own throats in a week's time!"

"Well, if I'm the shrew, it's only because you're a brute! And a jerk. And the least civilized human being I've ever seen."

"I'm not a human."

"Oh, like you let me forget that fact even for a lousy moment! Now, read that letter of yours already, it must be important." He frowned distracted at the envelope as she went on. "It's the seal of the Voivode, don't you recognize it?"

"Oh..." he turned the envelope around then breaking the seal opened it - still fuming.

_Dear Mr. Tepes,_

_We hope this letter finds you well. We have to inform you that you are to pay the annual tax for using the forest around the Belmont Estate which after the dead of the last member of the family belongs to the Voivode of Wallachia. The tax is due from the year of the Lord 1476 to this current date. Since you are using the forest without any documented permit, you are expected to present yourself at the Registry Office and show all the relevant documentation. In the regretful case that you fail to do that, you are required to move your Castle to a different geographical location or you'll be evicted within 30 calendar days._

_Sincerely Yours,_   
_The Taxation Office of the Voivode of Wallachia_

"Evicted," he repeated and crumpled the paper indignant. "Just come here and try! Do these people know whom they are exchanging letters with?"

Mia stifled a smile. "I believe, the Taxation Office is so caught up in bureaucracy that the answer to that is no."

"These people are idiots! _'no documented permit'_ I have been bequeathed the Estate by the last living member of the Belmont family. To guard it."

"I thought the Belmonts were extinct," Mia said thoughtfully.

"Trevor is the last living member."

"Trevor ..." she said the name softly. "Trevor is alive?"

"You heard it." Alucard went on fuming and uncrumpling the letter looked at the contents again almost to make sure he'd read it correctly. "Seriously, I can't believe this. Pay tax. Me!"

"What is so strange in that?" Mia asked confused. "Everybody does. The nunnery, the school, the postman you almost staked. Everybody in Wallachia."

"Well, I'm fairly certain my father never did."

"Well, you're not your father," she said shrugging apologetically.

He slouched shutting his eyes and cursed the minute he decided to get up that day.

* * *

"And she got you to pay tax, and she made you let the postman go, and you let her into the Castle, I'm telling you. She's bad influence," Trevor said as Alucard was walking in the forest in the afternoon sun, returning from the Registry Office. His hood was still pulled down to his nose, even though he didn't have to hide the color of his eyes anymore.

"All she wants is you to be a little more like everybody else. What's the harm in that?" Sypha asked.

"What's the benefit?" Trevor asked. "I spent half my life all alone, and I was perfectly fine."

"Yes, if you define _fine_ by reeking of piss, blood and stale beer, being a drunk and an anti-social-"

"Hey!" Trevor cut her off. "I was not an anti-social. People were anti-social and I simply adapted to the norms."

Sypha turned to Alucard. "Do you really want to be like Trevor Belmont?"

He stopped suddenly hit by that. "I am already like Trevor Belmont."

"Don't make it sound like that's so bad," Trevor grunted sulking.

"Yes. Yes it is bad!" Alucard said shocked by the realization. "God, why haven't I realized this earlier?"

"Because in the last year no one held up a mirror to you so that you can see your reflection," Sypha said. "Until now."

He sat on a wide trunk, pushing the hood off of his head with a heavy sigh. "Is there really just the two choices?" he whispered. "If I'm alone, no one can hurt me, but I turn into a monster. And if I'm not alone ..."

"If you're not alone there's always the possibility of betrayal."

He raised his head, and there stood Mia in a patch of sunlight through the leaves. 

"Humans are not angels, Alucard," she said stepping opposite him. "They lie, they betray, they make mistakes." She sat next to him, and he felt his cheeks burn sensing the heat of her body so close to his. He swallowed hard. She caught his eyes and went on. "But they also love and help and care."

"And make me pay taxes," he growled.

She giggled. "That too."

"As if I hadn't done enough already..." he said gazing ahead.

"Stop using your killing your own father for the sake of humanity as the Jolly Joker of a deck of cards."

He looked at her taken aback, and she went on.

"Yes, you did the most difficult thing anyone ever had to do. And yes, many people don't realize how difficult that must have been. How devastating. But it's also a good excuse for you to feel sorry for yourself." She turned up her palms. " _'Look at me! I was stabbed in the back by the universe! Not only by one sword, no. By ten or twenty.'_ All your staked victims, they're all sticking out of your back, reminding you of how horribly the world is treating you. And reminding you how horrible a person you are." She looked deep into his distressed eyes. "But the thing is, the world is not against you. And you're not a horrible person."

His lips parted hearing his own words for Sumi and Taka just before they tried to kill him. He was becoming just as damaged as they had been. Just as damaged as Trevor had been before the three of them met. Before he'd met Sypha.

He turned his head down examining the blur that once had been his entwined fingers resting on his knees. "How do you know that?" 

"It took only a look into your sleepless eyes," she said softly.

He looked at her stunned, and she smiled wistfully.

"A real monster would have no problem sleeping with a garden of staked people around his house. The dark rings of Saturn under your eyes give away you being a good and deeply tormented man."

Her voice was so soothing, her eyes reflected so much care. It was almost as if it all was a dream. He felt so safe and secure. Even loved. And all he could think of was to lay his head on her shoulder and cuddle up to her with a deep sigh. When he was a little boy, he'd cuddle like that to his mother. Even when he was older and a full grown man, sometimes they'd sit like that, and she'd stroke his hair and kiss his temple. But this embrace with Mia would be _different_. Because Mia was not his mother. She was ... a woman ... a woman with lips he could taste and soft skin he could caress and a delicate curve of neck he could bury his face into and ... He turned his gaze away and wiped his cheek. _What are you thinking?!_ Mia was NOT simply a woman. Mia was a nun! She had it in the job description to take care of others. Seemingly even of half-vampire bastards. She was simply doing her duty. And he was dirtying her with such unworthy images in his deranged head.

"I need to go now," she said in a soft voice and when he looked at her, he had to dismiss the sinful thought of catching her glancing at his lips. She swallowed and stood. "Have a peaceful night, my lord," she said and walked off with her basket of books.

Alucard kept on staring after her even when she was long gone and the moon replaced the sun in the skies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Leave a comment if you like! :)  
> Two small notes:  
> Dracula's journal excerpt was inspired by Robert Merle's Death is My Trade.  
> Alucard's ability to throw fireballs is from the games (though there this skill is a bit different). Don't know why it's not included in the Netflix series, but I think it's cool, so it's here.


	4. Chapter 4

Alucard was looking at himself in the mirror adjusting his old-new coat. Mia did a great job fixing it, it fit perfectly. He ran his palm over the front. It was good as new, maybe even better than new.

"Ah, stop already Romeo, your vanity stinks worse than the flowery soap you wash your hair with," he heard Trevor from behind.

Alucard turned and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, not everybody can be disgustingly satisfied with looking like a tramp."

"It was satisfying for you for a full year."

Alucard pulled on his gloves. "Say what your problem is before I just blink you away, Belmont."

Trevor stepped opposite him. "Don't you notice? Ever since she showed up, you let her do whatever the fuck she wants! She's going in and out of the Hold like it's hers. She bats an eyelash, and you fall to your knees obeying whatever she tells you to do. She got you to go into town, for god's sake! You keep thinking about her like there's nothing else on Earth that could hold your attention."

Alucard crossed his arms. "Well. That's ridiculous."

"Is it?"

"I'm thinking about you, aren't I?" Alucard turned back to the mirror and started to brush his hair.

Trevor rolled his eyes. "Your ignorance is appalling."

"What do I ignore?"

"The fact that she managed to gain your implicit trust. And it's dangerous." Alucard gave him a bemused glance, and he grabbed his arm. "Listen to me."

Alucard turned to him with his features hardening. "She's not gained my implicit trust. She'll soon stop coming here altogether as it is. She's almost finished with what supposed to be _your_ family's job. So just stop the lecture."

"Yeah, because there's no way she could find some other stupid excuse to linger."

"Ah, why would she do that?"

"Why is she doing it right now?"

Alucard pulled his arm away. "Out of gratitude for the books she can take."

"Says she!"

"Why else would she want to spend long days down in a dark, dusty library? You're being paranoid."

"Am I? I'm in _your_ fucking head!"

Alucard was hit by that. True. He was just imagining Trevor. Was he actually having all these doubts?

"All I'm asking that you think a little," Trevor pleaded. "What do you know about her so far?"

Sypha appeared next to him with a frown. "Why do you need to be so unbelievably negative _all_ the time?"

"I'm not negative, Sypha. I'm rational."

"By being scared of a nun?" she asked in a giggle.

"A nun who is not scared of a vampire having rotting corpses on stakes in the front yard. One who's the son of Dracula! A nun who hasn't showed even the slightest surprise when she was shown the biggest library in Eastern Europe. A nun who knows facts like vampires can regenerate very quickly from wounds."

Alucard remained silent for a long moment, feeling a weight squeezing out the last breath of his chest. "What do you suggest this means?" he asked finally.

"I think it means she's hiding something. I think it means she's not whom she says she is. She could be the mole of the Church. Or she could be a hunter disguised as a nun."

Sypha snorted. "That is just typical! Just because a woman shows courage and is educated, you immediately think she has bad intentions because she's posing a threat on your patriarchal society. Why don't you join the Church if you share their prejudices?" She gave Alucard the most accusatory frown. "Your mother died exactly because of such ideas! And you side with him?"

Alucard slouched. "I know. However. Trevor does have a point. I ignored some subtle signs that put together are suspicious."

Sypha grimaced. "Alright. In theories, if she is a hunter why hasn't she made her move? She's been coming here for over two weeks."

"Why have Sumi and Taka waited before wanting to stab you to death?" Trevor asked.

Alucard stared into nothingness. "Because they were hoping I'd fix the engine of the Castle."

"So the question is what is she waiting for?" Sypha asked still skeptical about the whole idea.

"Maybe to be alone in the Hold," Trevor said. "You left her working alone only once so far. When you went to town, to the Registry. Maybe she's looking for something. But cannot look for it while you're breathing down her neck."

Alucard felt his heart sinking deeper than the Hold. "Oh, my god. I'm an idiot," he whispered.

Sypha put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. "It's not stupid to get to like somebody."

"Oh, yes it is. How far am I from a blade in my heart again? A week's time? Maybe less?" he let out a long breath and wandered away to look out the window. It was raining so heavily. So in harmony with is mood.

"If she's planning the same course of action as the urchins, there's only one thing to keep in mind," Trevor said in a delighted voice. Alucard tilted his head looking at him, and he walked up to him patting him on the shoulder. "Just make sure your sword is only an arm's reach away from your pillow while you're giving her a good ride," he said chuckling, and Alucard blushed. "What? Don't tell me you would kick her out of your ... coffin!"

"She is indeed beautiful," Alucard breathed feeling that blade in his chest already.

"And you haven't even seen much of her with those thick robes swallowing her. Why don't you simply bind her to a stake and then cut those robes off one after the other with your sword..."

Sypha rolled her eyes. "Do you want to get your head incinerated out from between your ears? Even if she's a traitor and a threat, she's still a woman," she looked at Alucard, "and _you_ should treat her with respect!"

"What? It wasn't _my_ idea!"

"Really?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, and Alucard turned red. He kept forgetting their thoughts were his own. Was he really fantasizing about having a woman in such a depraved, humiliating situation? In a similar way, he was when Sumi and Taka ... He hugged himself. It would definitely be the only way he felt safe to be intimate with someone again: his partner tightly bound. He suddenly wished the ground would open and swallow him for that thought. He raised his eyes and saw that even his friends left. Shame often made them disappear.

He walked aimlessly on the dirty, dark corridors of his Castle. As usual, guilt welled up thinking that he should have cleaned up after the terrible battle months ago. He stopped at a window and looked out at the dark clouds and the pouring rain. Mia should be here by now. But it had been raining all night. Maybe it was difficult to get here on foot. He turned away from the window crossing his arms. Maybe it would be better if she didn't show up today. Or at all. He sighed heavily. He missed her. They kept arguing all the time, but he came to enjoy the banter. She was an apt partner in discussion, she had an answer for everything. And yes, he knew this wouldn't last for long because she'd finish with the index and finish with taking the books to the library of the nunnery. And because she was a nun to begin with. But it was so good to believe ... to believe that she was telling the truth. But Trevor - or his own paranoia - was right. There was no way she had no hidden intents. Possibly even murderous ones... 

He went down on the stairs feeling only emptiness. Maybe there should be pain, shouldn't there? But there was nothing. He went outside and took a deep breath. The reek of the corpses was stifled by the fresh dump air of the downpour. He wished he could just simply get rid of them. He wished he could live the life of an ordinary man. Who'd one day meet an ordinary girl. Someone smart and beautiful. Someone whom he could trust - not only trust, but wouldn't have to look for signs of malicious intent! What could have been that like?

Mia appeared at the edge of the clearing, and he blinked surprised. She did show up after all, despite the weather. He didn't go to meet her. He hated this wetness, so he stayed on his doorstep safely dry. She seemed reluctant seeing him unmoving, so she walked up on the stairs and stood opposite him.

"My Lord," she whispered, and Alucard frowned looking over at her.

Those thick robes were soaked and were clinging to her petite form. She was shivering, her lips were almost blue. The water dripping from her clothes were pooling around her feet.

She held out the basket. "I'm afraid your rolls are wet."

He took the basket with a confused frown. "I thought you wouldn't come in such weather. Especially not doing the detour to the grocery."

"Yes, but you were expecting it. And ... me."

He gazed into her eyes. Oh, yes he was. He was not only expecting her, but looking forward to seeing her more he dared to admit. _Stop it!_ he shouted to himself. _Stop. Tell her to just leave. Tell her to take her damn rolls back to where she was bringing them from! Tell her to freeze to death in this goddamn downpour!_

"You're soaked to skin," he said softly.

She ran a hand up her arm visibly trying to hide her shivering turning into shaking.

"It's alright. I'll dry up in the Hold."

He frowned at her nonchalance. "In the wine-cellar warmth? Sure. While drying don't forget to contract pneumonia."

A chuckle came out as a soft snort, as she tried to smile through her shivers. "Be careful, my Lord, you're starting to sound as if you were concerned." 

"Far be it from me." He turned and started to walk inside. "But your dripping clothes might ruin the books down there, and I'm obliged to protect them from your irresponsible attitude."

When she didn't follow, he stopped and turned back with a raised brow. 

"You mean you want me to come in," she stated incredulously.

"Would you prefer spending the day in the company of the gate-keepers outside?"

"Would you _not_? I thought your house is off-limits."

"Are you coming in or not?" he asked losing his patience. The cold draught was unpleasant.

"Who could resist such a heartfelt invitation," she asked bemused and walked after him. The gates closed behind her with a thud echoing in the hall.

As they were walking up the stairs, he started to tick down the rules on his fingers. "Don't try to steal anything. Don't wander off. Don't take off the books from the shelves. Better if you don't touch anything at all."

"May I draw a breath?"

"Only if it's absolutely necessary."

She stopped short. "May I reconsider spending the day rather with your gate-keepers?"

He frowned suddenly irritated turning back from the door of his living room. What was her problem? She did get invited in, didn't she. He could have as well go along with Trevor's earlier suggestion... Given that she was most probably just another assassin-aspirant, that would be the least she deserved yet he was kind enough not to do that in all this rain. And she was complaining?

"What is your problem, Sister?"

"What is _your_ problem?" she asked suddenly visibly upset. "If you don't want me in here, don't invite me. But if you do, have some manners. I thought we were over the 'don't do that or throat ripping ensues' phase. I'm tired of it! I'm cold, I'm wet, I'm exhausted, and I'm tired of your patronizing, off-hand 'I saved the world so I'm better than everyone hence I can treat you any way I want' attitude, so cut it out already!" her voice broke, and turning away, she put a hand in front of her mouth to hide a sudden sob.

He stood there thunderstruck. She was crying. He _made_ her cry. Was she such a good actress? To break down in tears over his words? Was it all part of the act? He felt Sypha's arm around his shoulder.

"You just want her to be a threat so that you can forget about your growing feelings. But look at her. Is that how a treacherous scheming vampire hunter looks like?"

Alucard slouched realizing how fragile Mia was standing there: in tears, in the home of a vampire lord who kept on threatening her with a painful death, half-way frozen to death. While she brought him food even in this vicious downpour. He felt heat rising to his cheeks.

She sniffled. "This was a bad idea. I'll come back tomorrow. Sorry that I disturbed you," she muttered and started for the stairs.

He strode after her and took her by the arm. "Wait, please!" he was surprised how anxious he sounded.

She looked at him with slight confusion on her features, and he reluctantly let her go. "You're right. I was inconsiderate. I'm sorry. Please, come in." She searched his eyes stunned, and he motioned to the door. "Please." 

They went in, and she hurried over to the fire burning delightfully in the fireplace opposite the wide red couch. She squatted and shivering hugged herself. Alucard walked up behind her. She had left a trail of wet footprints on his carpet. She really must have been soaked to skin.

"You should change, you'll just catch a cold."

She shook her head. "Mmm, I don't usually carry around a change of clothes."

"I can give you clothes."

She turned her head up to look at him with a smile. "I appreciate the thought, but your shirts would be a little bit too big for me, I'm afraid." She turned back to the fire. "Or did you keep the clothes of the female members of the Forest of the Dead? I must decline, because red is not really my color." She chuckled and her teeth chattered.

"No, not theirs. My mother's."

They stared at each other stunned hearing the words. Alucard blinked shocked. Did he actually just offer the sacred clothes of his mother to this woman? _What are you doing, idiot?!_

She stood opposite him searching his gaze. "You don't need to do this."

He moved his eyes from hers to his mother's looking at them from the portrait that used to hang in his father's study. He swallowed feeling his eyes fill. "She was the kind of person that would have given the last set of clothes she had to anyone in need." He turned back to her. "Letting you wear her clothes would be something she would have wanted."

He looked into her eyes and felt stunned seeing the devotion in her gaze. 

"Thank you," she whispered moved.

He cleared his throat and stepped away. "Maybe ... Maybe you should take off your veil and put it on that chair by the fire so it dries quickly."

She stood there hesitating for a long moment before reaching under the veil and loosening it, pulled the wet garment off her head. Alucard felt his lips parting seeing her wet deep-red hair falling back to her shoulder and back, framing her face. The color seemed to catch fire in the warm orange light, and he realized astounded that he never actually knew her hair color.

Looking at him, she gathered her hair to one side visibly embarrassed.

"Yes, I know, not the most fortunate color for a nun. It calls for the devil."

"Er ..." he shrugged. "You're in the home of the son of Dracula. Rest assured, these walls have seen worse callers of the devil than red hair."

She smiled at him reluctantly, and he motioned to the door.

He took her to his mother's room and waited outside while she changed. When she let him come back in, she was wearing a long green dress, fitting her perfectly. He looked over at her as if seeing her for the very first time. She was flushed and kept her hands in front of her chest. The cleavage was wide, he realized, it was not something a nun could be used to. He stepped up to her almost in a trance. As she turned, the light from the window highlighted the curves and plains of her body. She was just ... stunning.

"My Lord ..." she began on a trembling voice. 

"Yes?" he said trying to catch her eyes, but her gaze remained downcast.

"I know I'm asking too much already. But may I borrow a shawl as well?"

"Certainly," he said, and she quickly took out the first shawl her hands found in the closet. When she drew it around her neck and chest, he saw why she was so embarrassed. It wasn't because of the low cleavage, he realized. He stepped closer looking at the skin still visible where she was holding the shawl at her neck. There were thin lines across her chest up to her neckline. Scars, it suddenly dawned on him. He stared into her eyes shocked, and she shook her head, her gaze begging.

"Please, don't ask," she whispered, and he'd never seen her more scared of him than in that moment.

He frowned. Scars. On a nun. What the hell was this about? All his previous suspicions coming back with full force. 

"Why shouldn't I ask, Sister Mia? Because you never thought I'd notice them so you never figured out a good enough excuse for having them? Why not just say the truth? You got them in fights, didn't you. Because you are not who you say you are."

"Wha-What are you saying?"

His hands came up into fists. "You're a hunter," he hissed.

She gaped at him in disbelief. "Is that what you believe? Is that what you're so scared of? That I'm trying to hunt you with some dirty tricky method by gaining your trust first?" He raised an eyebrow, but his hand was already on the hilt of his sword. 

She pulled the shawl away and showed her scars. They were many. Really many. And they didn't seem to be the marks of swords or knives. But rather a whip... He blinked suddenly hesitating.

"When I was eleven," she started, "I was sold to the Turks. They reward the slightest mistake with lifelong gifts. You learn a lot of things there. You learn never to spill tea. You learn to always keep your gaze down. You learn how to cry without making a sound at night ... But rest assured, my Lord, you don't learn how to hunt a vampire."

Alucard gasped hearing that and shook his head. "God ... How ... how did you manage to get away?"

She put the shawl back around her chest and neck avoiding his eyes, and it finally dawned on him what he was putting her through. He glanced out shutting his eyes - oh, god, he just should jump out the window. He looked back at her tormented.

"I'm ... I'm so sor-"

"Don't be," she cut him off. "The one that you gave me fortunately healed without leaving a scar." He stood there frozen to the spot, not having the slightest clue how to unscrew this situation. She finally looked up at him, and his eyes widened seeing a bitter smile on her lips. "I guess it's so easy for me to forgive your massive faux pas because I know how it feels to expect everyone to hurt you."

He gasped. Forgive him? In her place, the least he'd do is kick him in the balls - not that he felt much of that.

"Mia, I-" he stammered but couldn't think of anything remotely proper to say.

She glanced away gloomily. " _Sister_ Mia, my Lord," she said in a low voice running her hands up her arms. He felt a bucket of cold water splashing in his neck. It was actually much worse than a kick in the balls.

She went to the door, he was sure because she wanted to be out of his vicinity. "Thank you for the clothes," she said softly, turning back. She ran her palm down the front. "I'm revered to be able to wear the clothes of your mother."

He nodded vaguely, and they looked at each other for a long moment. The far away sound of the church bell made him glance out the window. "Er, Sister Mia, would you like to have lunch perhaps?"

She blinked delightedly surprised. "You cook?"

He smiled shyly and nodded.

She winced. "Well, I'd be happy to help. But I must warn you, I'm not very fond of anything that has blood in it... especially if it's human blood."

A small chuckle blurted through his lips. "No, me neither," he confessed. She seemed to try to hide her surprise, and he stepped up to her motioning to the door. 

"Do you like fish?"

* * *

After lunch, they went back to his living room. Alucard tried hard to remember the last time his spirits were so high in the company of another. He looked at the portrait of his two friends. Yes, maybe with them. Though at that time, he had a terrible task before him.

"Who're they?" she asked softly.

He turned to her distracted. "Well. My friends."

She walked up to the painting studying it tilting her head. "He wears the family crest of the Belmonts. Oh, is he-"

"He's Trevor. The last living Belmont," Alucard told her standing next to her. He frowned taken aback seeing tears in her eyes.

"I thought he was dead," she muttered. "I thought those monsters killed him along with his family..." she stepped to the window wiping her cheeks.

Alucard watched shocked. "You know him."

Mia nodded and composing herself looked at him. "I grew up in the neighborhood."

He walked up to her. "You were friends."

"Oh ..." She chuckled tearfully. "Not exactly. Our fathers were. Actually, we were betrothed."

Alucard gaped close to bark _WHA?!_ He looked at his friend's face in the painting then back at Mia. And yet another smart and beautiful woman crazy about that doofus! What was his secret?! Did he put something in their drinks?

"So you were in love," he said dryly taking a small step back feeling rather uncomfortable. 

Mia laughed suddenly. "Oh, no, not at all! In fact, we hated each other."

"Really?"

"It would have been an arranged marriage. Our families were very close, it would have been the most logical step. But we were so different. He spent all his time training to fight monsters and vampires and night creatures. And I spent as much time as I could down in the library. The only interaction we had was him pulling my pigtail when he got me alone."

"Oh..."Alucard nodded coming to a revelation. "So this is why you weren't surprised by the enormity of the Hold. And you already knew the index was incomplete."

She looked at him apologetically. "Yes. I'm sorry about not telling you that I've been in the Hold before. I didn't know how you'd react to that. I just ... I just felt I needed to do this, needed to be there and complete that work. For our families."

He gazed out the window gloomily. He did understand. But she still lied - or at least withheld. He glanced at her as she walked back to the painting of Trevor. She didn't entirely look like somebody who hated that dumbass. What else wasn't she telling him?

"So you hated each other."

"Oh, yes," she replied distracted. "So when we were told that we would be married, we made an alliance. We started to make plans about how to avoid being married. The plan involved a hundred frogs and bugs let loose in the church on our wedding day, putting my wedding dress into the pig sty, hiding my father's mustache straightener the night before and other sophisticated signs for our parents to get that we don't want to go along with their wishes."

Alucard couldn't help but smiled. "So how did it end?"

Mia's expression turned clouded. "If he's your friend you already know how it ended," she said in a low voice. "The good people of the town burning the homes of the nobles of the neighborhood, and killing everybody they found. Selling those to the Turks who they deemed were worth a dime." She raised her eyes back to Trevor's portrait. "I don't know how he lived through it. He was around the same age I was."

A heavy silence descended on them again. Alucard crossed his arms gazing ahead in thought. "He told me he was on his own since his early teens. But he didn't say much about the details."

She turned to him with a nostalgic smile. "So what is he like now? Is he still the Knight of the Round Table, putting up fights for the weak and in need? Despite the pigtail pulling thing, when another kid dared to try that, he'd beat the devil out of him."

"He's ... he's ..." Alucard studied her face. Should he really take her illusions away? He frowned. What was there to hide? He was not responsible for the depths the damn Belmont descended to. He walked up to her looking at the painting. "He's a drunk. He's dumb as mud and thinks about nothing but beer. Maybe sometimes sex. But mostly beer. Oh, and weapons. He gets into fights mostly over beer and other beverages and debts because of beer and other beverages. Oh, and did I mention beer?"

She watched him raising her brows and then chuckled. "And that is the characterization of someone you call a friend. I don't even want to know what you must be thinking about me."

He clammed up and crossed his arms suddenly timid.

"I wonder what he'd say about you."

He glanced away shrugging slightly. "That I'm a sulky half-vampire bastard who should eat shit and die - and there would be some other adjectives he'd apply mostly coming from the bar dwellers he'd get into a fight with."

She threw her head back and laughed. And he couldn't help to join her. "Oh, I wish I could listen to the two of you argue! It must be hilarious!"

"Oh, Sypha didn't think so, she'd always stand between the two of us right before swords were drawn - or in Trevor's case, a whip."

"Sypha is her?" Mia asked pointing to the Speaker standing next to Trevor in the painting.

"Yes."

"How did you come to know them?"

"We met in Gresit. As it was prophesized. The sleeping soldier met by a hunter and a scholar-"

"To kill Dracula."

He looked at her surprised. "You know the story."

She nodded. "Yes." She looked back at the painting. "So this must have been a very strong bond among the three of you then."

"The strongest. I've never felt belonging more to someone than to the two of them. We were bound by destiny."

She turned to him visibly reluctant to ask the next question. "So ... what do they say about ... about the gate-keepers outside?"

Alucard looked at her as if awaken from a dream. But her eyes only reflected a mild confusion and more concern.

"I mean ... the three of you risked everything to kill Dracula. And here you are, trying to seem you're Dracula."

He suddenly felt his pulse spiking. His jaws and fists tightened, but he wasn't angry at her. He went back to look outside and grasped the windowsill so hard that is knuckles were white and the wood started to crack. 

"They left before the first stakes were up," he whispered. "They left just after ... after we killed my father. And they never returned since." He swallowed very close to breaking down in tears. Yes. They left. They left...

"And you stayed here, all alone, in the house of your dead father."

He turned back to her, eyes blazing. "They did well to leave. I _wanted_ to be alone."

"Buried alive under grief and solitude and guilt?" she asked looking deep into his eyes. "So that you atone? Is that what you need? Punishment?"

He gasped and stepped to her. "Stop talking-"

"Or what? You rip me apart and chalk up one more thing to feel guilty about? More violence will not lessen the pain. Just add to it."

He grasped her arm. "Stop, woman, or I swear to god..." He was gripping her so hard he knew the bone could just snap if he squeezed even a little more.

"Argh, tell me that I'm wrong then! But you're torturing yourself and pull down everybody around you with you. You don't realize that nothing will bring you peace, only if you forgive yourself. The way your father did."

"You don't know how he felt about his son putting a stick in his heart, so stop talking!"

"No, Adrian, I won't stop!"

"Don't call me _that_!"

"Why not? Because it's easier to hide behind a prophecy? To hide behind the name the Wallachian people gave you? Instead of taking up the responsibility and saying, I made those choices. I feel guilty as all hell but it was me who decided on killing my father! Not because I enjoyed doing it, but because I had to. If you could say that, you could finally forgive yourself. And you could also forgive your friends who left you here all alone. And then you could go after them and be with them again, to finally be your own man! Not just the shadow of your father or the toy of history."

He pushed her to the wall hissing and showing his fangs so close to her face that he could feel the heat of her labored breathing on his lips; her chest heaving against his own.

"Do it," she murmured, and he leaned even closer pressing her into the wall. "Do it if it relieves even an ounce of your pain. But after you're done, promise me to think about my words." 

He looked into her soul-piercing eyes and couldn't help to glance at her parted exquisite lips. The next thing he knew was that his mouth was on hers. Digging his claws into her hair, he pulled her against him with elemental force. A muffled moan escaped her, and he tilted his head seeking entrance through her lips and teeth. She obediently let him in. He grunted feeling her arms slipping around his neck; heat was coursing down his body centering in his loins. Running his hand down her back, he pulled her hips against his hardening desire. He felt passion overwhelming his thoughts, his senses, chasing everything away but the strongest need he'd ever felt, and in his mind's eye, he saw himself ripping her clothes off and pinning her, he'd take her, then and there standing against the wall. 

And all of a sudden, he sobered at the terrible thought. Like an animal appeasing its hunger by ripping apart its helpless prey. Like a _vampire_ waiting for far too long to have a good drink ... Their lips parted, and he saw her standing there clasped tightly in his arms shaking and confused ... and scared.

"What ... what are you doing?" she asked in a thin voice.

He blinked for a few seconds, still pressed against her - his hard desire against her thigh. He took a deep breath and made a conscious mental effort of dismissing the hot sensation before pulling away from her. 

"I'm not doing anything," he muttered.

"Yes, you were - wha-what were you thinking?!" she demanded visibly close to tears in her sudden rage. Or was it shame?

He frowned feeling heat rising to his cheeks. "What was _I_ thinking? _You_ kissed me!"

"I kissed you? Have you lost your mind? Why would a nun kiss a man?"

"Why would a man kiss a nun?! Why would it even cross my mind? You can't even be looked at as a woman! Why would I even _think_ about being attracted to you?"

The look on her face was nothing he'd ever seen on her features before as his words sank in, and she gazed down at herself. With her shawl pulled away, her chest was visible - her scars were visible, and she put a hand to them and looked back at him mortified.

"Mia..." he whispered realizing how he sounded. And he shook his head in dread. 

She swallowed hard and then straightened her back and went to the chair where her robes were drying. 

"Would you give me some privacy while I change, my Lord? So I can be swiftly on my way," she asked on a perfectly controlled calm voice staring into nothing.

"Mia, what are you doing? It's still raining cats and dogs, you can't walk two hours in this weather," he said standing behind her.

She turned and looked at him coldly. "It's _Sister_ Mia. And you desire solitude, do you not, my Lord Alucard?"

"I-I was wrong before-"

She shook her head. "No. No, you were not." She picked up her robes. "I'm a nun. And my behaviour is disrespectful to you and to my order. So I'm sorry."

"But it was not your fault. I was the one who-"

She stepped up to him. "It doesn't matter. You're a man who lives alone and is free to do whatever he pleases. I'm a nun. I'm married to our Lord Jesus Christ," she put a hand to her chest. "You did well to remind me where my place was."

Rarely did he felt such desperation than in that moment. "I didn't mean those words," he whispered, his voice breaking. 

She looked into his eyes with a bitter smile. "Believe me, my Lord, had you seen _all_ of it, you would."

He shook his head but couldn't find his voice to speak. He found himself in the corridor desperately trying to find something to tell her. But his thoughts and feelings were a dark jumble. He couldn't make sense out of those few mindless seconds that had passed between them. It was as if his body was possessed - it was as if that wasn't the first time they'd been doing that and that deep desire drove his impatient movements. And she was kissing him back! Despite him being almost violent, she stroked his hair, pulled his head down and kissed him like she never wanted to let go.

She stepped outside dressed in her robes and veil and looked at him.

 _Please, don't go. I'm begging you, don't go!_ He wanted to say the words. But they were stuck in his throat, and he was standing there on the corridor mute. 

"I probably won't be able to come for a few days. But I'll come and finish the index as soon as I'm allowed to," she said as if nothing had happened in the living room. As if they were two polite strangers.

He searched her eyes, but she kept her gaze off his. And she turned and walked out into the dark, wet wilderness.

He sat on the stairs leaning to the banister staring at the closed gates behind her.

"Why? Why couldn't I tell her how I really felt?" 

"Do _you_ know how you really feel?" Sypha asked sitting beside him.

He gazed at his entwined fingers on his knees. "Nothing. I feel nothing." He looked back at the gates. "I wish she had never come here. I wish ... she would never come here again."

"You wish she would, more than anything."

He turned his head to her jaded. "What should I do, Sypha?"

"Go after her and tell her, you're insanely in love with her."

"Is _this_ love? All this pain and longing? And helplessness?"

Trevor appeared standing on the stairs leaning above them. "Go after her and rip her throat out." They both looked at him with reprimand on their features. "What? You really want to feel this torture for the rest of your life? Do you think your mind wouldn't be lost the same as your father's was on such feelings? You _saw_ what became of him. You saw the consequences!"

"Please, don't listen to him," Sypha pleaded. "You're not your father, and Mia is not your mother. You're not bound to repeat history!"

Alucard looked at his fingers for a good few heartbeats. 

"I wish ... I wish ... I really was just Adrian Tepes. An ordinary man who could follow whatever his heart dictates. Without the history over my shoulders. But," he looked at Sypha's desperate face, trying hard to explain. "My solitude has a good reason. And it's not only to be punished for my deeds. So you need to go now," he whispered and steeling himself wished his friends away. He stayed sitting there petrified for the rest of the night.


	5. Chapter 5

Alucard was walking aimlessly in the forest. He knew he should be looking for food - winter was very near, and he had no stocks at all. He didn't have a clue how he'd survive the coming months other then learning how to photosynthesize. Still his mind was not on food or survival. A week passed, and Mia hadn't come. 

"She said she wouldn't," Sypha told him walking next to him.

"I know, but what was this _'I'll come when I'm allowed'_ bit? Why wouldn't she be allowed? She just wanted an excuse never to come again," he growled picking up a thin branch.

"You think sulking will solve the situation?"

"Not sulking," he shrugged keeping his gaze on the path ahead. "Just hate it that she couldn't be straight up about not _wanting_ to come. As if she didn't say the word out of pity. As if I needed to be pitied!" He hit the trunk of a tree with the branch. It broke into two with a satisfying crack.

"So this is what's like when you're _not_ sulking, hmm, do you really think everything is about you?"

He frowned at her irritated. "Who said that?"

"You did!" Sypha laughed, and he rolled his eyes stopping.

"I think she really is not allowed to come, Alucard. Think about it, she lives in a nunnery. I'm pretty sure they have rules about _not_ being allowed to kiss a man. What if she's being punished for it?"

"That's ridiculous. Why would she tell it to anyone?"

Sypha cleared her throat in mock-confusion. "I must have mentioned she lives in a nunnery with strict rules. Why would she tell? Because they make daily confessions. She's bound to confess the truth."

He shrugged frustrated. "Well, she has nothing to be punished for then. I was the one kissing her," he said starting to walk.

"You think she'd lay the blame on you? Is that in any way like her?"

He stopped and crossing his arms fixed his eyes on the running creek.

Sypha stepped up to him. "You and I both know, she's right where you are. She kissed you back."

He let out a long breath shutting his eyes. "Ah, don't I know," he whispered. He collapsed on a huge flat stone and buried his forehead in his gloved hands. Heat was spreading in his body as he recalled that overwhelming moment. How she dug her fingers in his hair and pulled him into her, her breathless moan, her hot wet mouth - as hungry as his own! Because true as it was that he kept imagining things, but he was certain he was NOT imagining her attraction in that moment.

He raised his head and looked at Sypha sitting next to him. "What do I do? If I haven't gone crazy yet, I'll surely go now. She's right where I am - what does it matter where either of us is? I must not act upon whatever happened between us. Even if we both want it. I _must_ not."

They heard Trevor's heart-felt laugh, and he appeared a moment later standing above them.

" _Both_ want it? Alucard you practically humiliated her. You think she's not coming because she's being punished? And you're contemplating your _chances_ with her? Even if she wasn't a nun, just a simple girl from the town, she'd never come to you after what you told her! If the situation was reversed, would you? If you had shown someone your scars, and they told you you're disgusting and they could never be attracted to you, would you come back running?"

Alucard slouched feeling the air squeezed out of his chest. True. He said terrible things that he never meant. He just wanted to ... What the hell did he want?

"I hurt her terribly, didn't I?" he whispered.

"And without a good reason. And for the umpteenth time. Just on that day."

Alucard looked at Trevor feeling despair welling up from the depths of his soul. "She should never have come here! Why didn't she understand that she can expect nothing good around here? Maybe I really should have put out those signs after all above the Forest saying ' _Abandon all hope!_ '"

"Because _that_ would have kept her away," Sypha said chuckling.

He stood and started to stride back to the Castle. His two friends instantly appearing next to him.

"Where are you running? Your conscience is not going to be left on the threshold of the Castle." Trevor told him and he stopped short looking at him.

"Fine! So what do I do, genius? If you're the knower of the secrets of the female heart! What do I do?"

"You grow up," Sypha said standing opposite him next to Trevor. "You go to her, tell her you're sorry, you were an idiot. And tell her it was all your fault and would never happen again. And while you're at it, you could also tell her, you're an idiot."

He grimaced crossing his arms again. 

"And while you're at it, you could also stop sulking," Trevor added.

"No!" Alucard retorted. "You know what? I just figured something out. You're in my head."

"And you figured that out only just now?" Sypha asked putting a finger to her chin. "Maybe you really need your head examined."

"No. I mean I simply just realized that you are telling me what I wish or what I feel bad about. But it's not the point."

"And what is?" she asked squinting perplexed.

"The point is that I need to be alone if I want to protect the world from another Dracula. And you're just telling me all this so that I would go to the nunnery, to see her again. And I might be wishing to do that with all my heart, but I will not do that. Because even though I feel horrible about hurting her, and Adrian Tepes would go and beg for her forgiveness on his knees, Alucard will not. And I made my choices, and made them well long ago. End of story." He swirled around and marched back down the path he was coming on, dismissing his two friends.

He was still brooding and muttering expletives when an unfamiliar scent made him stop. He raised his head and smelled the wind blowing from the direction of the Castle. It was _her_! But she was not alone. Females were with her. He frowned. She brought protection? As if her sisters could protect her if he approached her with ill-will! he thought irritated at the idea.

He reached the edge of the clearing and saw them. There were five nuns in gray robes, they were surrounding Mia, who was in all black, with a thin black veil in front of her face and around her hair - which was cut short. It barely reached her shoulders. His frown deepened. What was this?

The nuns turned to him, noticing him, and one of them walked up to meet him a few yards from the little group.

"Good morning, Count Tepes," the elderly woman nodded politely.

"What can I do for you, ladies?" he asked and couldn't help his gaze wandering behind the woman to catch Mia's eyes. But she didn't look up.

"I am Sister Edera. I am Mother Superior of the Order of Valenia. And they are my Sisters. We're here to talk to you about a matter of importance."

He frowned annoyed at the pious words, and clasp of her hands. "You'll forgive me, Sister if I ask you to cut the formalities and get to the point?" he said, his patience hanging on a thread. Why wasn't Mia looking at him? What were these crows doing here?

"I will attempt to be short so we don't rob much of your precious time, my Lord. We know our young Sister here acted disrespectfully towards you on her last visit in your house. We are here to apologize for her behaviour."

"What?" he barked. "Woman, have you lost your wits?"

"No, my Lord. Our rules require us to ask for your forgiveness in her name."

He gasped not believing his ears. "I was the one being disrespectful to her, not reversed! I should be apologizing to her, not she to me. And what are these funeral clothes on her?"

Mia attempted to raise her gaze, but the woman right next to her grasped her arm and made her slouch.

"She's making penitence, my Lord, as she's required by the rules of our Order. Wearing all black so the other Sisters know she cannot be talked to, and cannot be given other food but bread and water. So that her soul is purified of all the evil that possessed her."

"Evil?! She's the best, most kind-hearted person I've met in quite a while. If you're punishing her in my place, _your_ Order is evil! Not her," he spat. His claws appeared and he needed to make a conscious effort to pull them back before ripping the head off this witch.

Sister Edera turned her head back and exchanged glances with the other nuns. Then turning back to him looked at him troubled. "Yes, this was exactly what I was afraid of. Her charms already influenced you, my Lord."

"Charms?"

"Yes, charms we tried very hard to free her of in the last years. Charms she got from the devil at her birth. Along with a mark that cannot be mistaken."

Alucard frowned remembering what Mia had told him when he saw her deep-red waist-long hair. 'It's calling for the devil.'

He gaped staring only at her. "You mean her hair?"

"She showed it to you, didn't she? In the light of a burning fire! She was invoking the devil in your house, and that needs to be addressed, my Lord. And urgently so! Your house, the Belmont Hold and everything that she touched will need to be purified of the evil she spread."

Alucard blinked speechless for a moment then all of a sudden laughed. "Purified? The house of Dracula?! My dear ladies, the devil is busy having his lunch with my father next to the cauldron they're putting on the fire for _you_. The devil won't turn up just because of the color of her hair!" He turned back to Mia, "You call these people family? How can you even listen to this?!"

Mia was about to raise her gaze, but the woman next to her grasped her arm again and made her bow her head. Her hands were clenched in fists, clasped in front of her. Alucard pushed the woman out of the way and took Mia by the arms. She stared at him with terror on her features - she'd never before looked at him that way. But somehow he knew that look was not meant for him.

"She's not allowed to talk, my Lord, so don't try to make her," Sister Edera said. "But we urge you to let us do our jobs! You're in great danger, my Lord."

"Mia, you don't need to go along with their bigot superstitions. You know that."

She just stared at him with an entreating look. She was scared to speak, he realized.

"I'm sorry," she whispered finally. "I have no choice."

He let her words sank in. Yes. She made her choices. Made them long before they met. The same as he did. He let her go. They had nothing to do with each other.

He turned his head to the Mother Superior again; disgust welling up looking into her cold, cruel eyes. "You are the kind of people that put my mother on the stakes. Thank your Sister here that I'm not returning the favour just now. But I'll pray you'll be eaten by night creatures on your way back home. Now, get lost!"

He swirled around and started for the gates. 

He only took a few strides, when it all came together: they were not there to purify anything. This was Dracula's house, and they knew it as well as anybody else in the neighborhood that there were no more evil places in all of Wallachia than that Castle. They were only there to get him to let them into the Hold! He turned back drawing his sword just to parry the attack of one of the nuns.

He hissed showing his fangs, but the woman was not at all scared, and in a moment, he was fighting against four skilled swords-women. He parried another attack and disappeared just to show up a few yards behind one of them. Before she turned, he cut her head off and reaching out with his other hand, he sent out five fireballs into the face of another. They left only a scorched black skull in their wakes - her face was gone. The remaining two exchanged glances and one of them pulled out a long dagger as a secondary weapon. She sent it flying in his direction, but he jumped into the air and hit the blade with his sword just before it reached his chest. The dagger flew sideways twirling in the air, but as its owner reached out, it changed its trajectory and returned to her palm. 

"Good trick", Alucard said appreciatively landing on the ground. The woman threw the blade again, but his sword parried it, and the dagger stabbed its owner in the chest. He then sent his sword flying right into the eye of the other woman before she could attack again.

Sister Edera yelled in frustration and despite her age ran toward him with a surprising speed. She sent long daggers of ice from her palms, and Alucard had to jump out of their way before he had a chance to motion for his sword to stab the woman in the back. She collapsed with a growl. All of them were dead and reaching out, he called his sword back.

He looked around and saw Mia frozen to the spot staring at the corpses surrounding her. His heart sank, she must have been terrified. She raised her gaze, and his breath was suddenly caught. He dropped his sword and walked up to her. She wordlessly slid her arms around him and pulled him close. His heart almost jumped out of his chest feeling her burying her face in his hair at the crook of his neck, and he hesitantly wrapped his arms about her waist. Hearing her sob, he ran his hand up her back. After a minute, she pulled away to look into his eyes still in anguish. He lifted the thin veil covering her face and wiped a tear with his thumb. He wasn't able to speak.

She swept a stray strand of hair out of his face. "Tell me you're not hurt," she said barely able to form the words.

He shut his eyes for a heartbeat savouring the tenderness. "I'm fine, don't worry. It's over," he whispered. She stroked his cheek bowing her head as more tears came. He tightened his embrace around her to make her feel she was safe. Inhaling her fragrance, he felt drunk. His eyes dropped from her tormented gaze to her slightly parted lips. His previous resolve never to pursue his feelings for her were discarded in a singular instant, and the only thought remaining in his head was to kiss her until he had no more air in his lungs. He cupped her cheek. "Don't cry, please."

She shook her head. "It's not over," she muttered. "They'll come back again. They won't stop coming until they got what they wanted. You're in danger."

He frowned trying to get a grip on reality. "Who're they?"

"The Inquisition," she said in a low voice. "These women ... they were mercenaries of the Inquisition."

"Mia, no human has any chance at hurting me." When he saw her shaking her head, he instinctively pulled her into him. "There's nothing to be upset about," he murmured leaning to her cheek and couldn't stop himself from planting a small kiss to the corner of her mouth, kissing away a rolling teardrop. Feeling her snuggling into him with a sigh, he tilted his head. His lips lingered above hers for a tantalizing moment, then he closed the distance, and gently took her lower lip between his own. It was salty from her tears. She moaned softly, and it made him slide his tongue across her lips, seeking entrance. Feeling her fingers tangle in his hair as she opened her mouth and kissed him back, made heat rush through him. Oh, god, here she was! She wanted this as much as he did. Wanted him. He grunted in pleasure and drew her tongue into his mouth to nibble it gently.

She suddenly pulled away and looked at him out of breath visibly scared.

"I'm sorry," he breathed not fully grasping what could be wrong.

She took a step back from him, and he dropped his arms to his side perplexed watching her hug herself. Then he slowly realized. Feeling the teeth of a vampire must be most unsettling after almost getting killed. He felt mortified for being so inconsiderate.

"Mia, I-I didn't mean to startle you. I-"

She swallowed hard shaking her head. "You didn't," she whispered. "I wanted it - I want it more than I ever imagined I could ever want the touch of a man after ..." she trailed off laying a hand on her chest where he knew her scars were.

He stepped to her and fought himself to keep from touching her not to frighten her even more. "Please, don't think about that," he said in a low voice and caught her gaze. "I'm so sorry for the stupid things I told you that day. I never meant even a word, I was just ... upset for feeling these deep emotions for you. Emotions that I've never-"

"Please, stop, please!" she sobbed bowing her head.

Alucard felt a catch in his throat watching her. _What are you doing, idiot? She's a nun. And you're tempting her and keep dirtying her with your animalistic desires. Oh, you'll burn in hell in a much deeper pit than your father is. Be a man! Put away your petty urges, and give her the respect she deserves!_

"I'm sorry," he breathed close to tears. 

She locked her eyes with his. "No. I am sorry!" she said and stared into his eyes with so much guilt on her features that it was sobering. "I cannot do this to you any longer. I just cannot..."

"Do what?" he asked frowning. A chill was climbing up his spine making his heart race in his chest. "Do what, Mia?"

"I lied to you. I ... I worked for them. I worked for the Inquisition. They sent me here."

"Wha..."

"I had no other choice, believe me, please. I had no choice."

The world stopped moving around him. Birds stopped singing, the wind froze mid-air, the colors of nature bled out into nothingness. Was she really saying what he heard? He searched her eyes but all he could find there was fear and guilt. Guilt. Was it there because she truly regretted betraying him? Or just because now he knew about it and her life depended on him ... Was she expecting him to let her walk away in exchange for her confession? His hands clenched into fists - his right hand clasping the hilt of his sword instantly reacting to his thoughts and jumping to his aid. He cried out as if he got a deadly stab in the heart and before he realized what he was doing, he found himself behind her, holding the blade to her throat. She moaned in terror.

"What a familiar situation," he said gasping, leaning close to her ear, ready to squeeze the life out of her fragile body. "Had I listened to my brain instead of my heart on our first meeting, I could have spared myself ... of so many things. But I won't make the same mistake again. So Sister Mioara, if that is your real name at all. If you're a nun at all ... Given our rapport, I'm giving you a choice. What would you prefer? My claws, my sword or my fangs slashing your throat?"

She sobbed. "I-I'm so sorry ..."

"For what?" he asked with a bitter chuckle in his voice. "For taking this idiot for a ride? That's not your fault, I let you do it. I imagine you must have had great laughs with your sisters. _Oh, I made the vampire all crazy about me, he's hanging on every word I say like a drooling little puppy dog!_ "

"No, that's not true! I do care about you. I care about you a lot, I swear to god." 

"To god! I would laugh, but you see, my back hurts a little, as if I was stabbed."

"Listen to me, I'm begging you!"

He tightened his grip, drawing a helpless yelp out of her. "What for? So you can lie and manipulate me? So I let you live?"

"No, I'm just asking you to let me tell you the truth." She gasped through her tears. "If I have to leave the valley of tears I want to come clean with you. I owe you this much!"

He turned her around gripping her by the arms, his sword falling to the ground. He stared into her eyes - her beautiful, beautiful eyes... "Make it quick, sister," he growled not being able to stop himself from glancing at her parted lips still wet from their kiss. He pulled her close letting her feel his hot breath on her mouth as he spoke. "The corpses of your friends won't get themselves up on the stakes. And neither will yours."

She swallowed, and he could feel her shaking in his grasp as she started to talk. 

"When they first approached me, I didn't know who they really were. The nunnery was in trouble, a night creature burned the library down, and took the roof of the nunnery with it. We needed books, we needed a place to live in, we needed help. And when they came, they promised to help the Order if we help them in return. All they asked for was information on the Hold, and on you. I didn't know they were the Inquisition! I would never have helped them if I knew." She sniffled. "When I came here ... I thought this would be my chance to give the Hold, the library I held so dear, back to humans where I strongly believed it belonged. I thought helping these people getting rid of the vampire who took it from us was the right thing to do. I never would have thought even in my wildest imagination that in place of a vile monster, I'd find a young man deeply hurt and confused. And I realized they lied about everything. About you taking the Hold, about you killing your father just to take his place on the throne. About you being just like him waiting for the opportunity to wage war against humans again. "

"So you took pity on the poor fool, didn't you? And instead of killing him right away, you rather seduced him? He was such an easy prey!"

"No! I never pitied you, Adrian."

He shook her close to breaking the bones of her arms. "Don't you ever call me on that name again."

She broke down crying again. "I never pitied you, I swear. When I got to know you, all I wanted was to ... to hold you close and tell you, everything was going to be alright. To make you see that there's dawn after the night. Because I once was there. I was where you are right now. When there's nothing around you just darkness and all you feel is hatred, so much so that you become that hatred! Because the world hurt you, and the memory of those few who didn't have faded as if they were never real. I know exactly how that feels, and I know you can heal from it, because I healed too. Every time you lashed out and said something stupid and angry and spiteful, I saw myself in your eyes so desperately trying to survive. And I needed to help."

"You're just trying to manipulate me again."

"Take it for whatever you wish. I have nothing to lose now," she yelled determined. She took a few breaths to be able to go on. "After a few days spent with you, I begged the Mother Superior to let me get out of this. But she didn't allow me, so I started to lie. I told them the Hold has nothing that they are looking for."

"What _are_ they looking for?" He gave her a slight shake. "Tell me."

"Instruments of occult magic. Spells to get into contact with the devil and demons. I don't know exactly what they want to use it for. But it's dark, and evil. And I knew I had to stop them. I also knew they'd send people here sooner or later to ... to kill you because they knew from the beginning that I couldn't be entrusted with that task. So I told them you're far from being as strong as your father. That you're no threat at all." 

"Why?"

"So that they underestimate you! So they don't send a full army of soldiers to attack you."

He snorted. "So you're saying you tried to protect me?" He had to laugh.

"Yes, and it worked. They sent us back here with the Mother Superior. They knew I'd not come on my free will. But they sent only a handful of mercenaries of the Inquisition with us. They thought it would be enough."

"If you wanted to protect me so much, why didn't you tell me at the beginning? When you realized my name is not spelled backwards, and I'm not my father."

"I couldn't. If I betrayed them, they'd have taken revenge on my Order, and my Sisters are all innocent! Believe me, our Order is not part of this. I'm sure they blackmailed the Mother Superior to help them because she'd do anything for the Order. Because all our Sisters are innocent pure souls."

"So why tell me now? Will the Inquisition not take revenge on your precious Order now?"

"No. They won't be suspecting betrayal ... if _all_ of us is dead."

An unbearable weight sat on his shoulders as her words sank in. He hesitantly let her go, and she rubbed her arms. She hugged herself and bowed her head. "I'm sorry for proving your worst fears right. I just hope one day you'll find it in your heart to forgive me." She caught his gaze, and he was dizzy seeing the devotion in her eyes. "You can kill me know," she whispered. "If the offer still stands ... I'm choosing your fangs. So that I can feel your arms around me as I die."

He watched her standing there crying, asking for death, and he wished he could take her in his arms again and wipe her tears away - and he wished he had the strength to kill her and finish this once and for all.

"You know," he said on a breaking voice. "Amongst all the traitors life threw my way, you're the _worst_." Her eyes widened in horror, and he went on. "I'm not giving you absolution, Sister Mia. Not by words and not by death." He took a small step to her. "But tell your friends at the Inquisition to send me an invite for your burning on the stakes alive. I'd be happy to watch and cheer with the crowd."

He turned and started for the gates, his sword faithfully following him, flew close to his hand. He could hear her crying. She was not moving - maybe he should scare her off with some magic. Ah, it was not worth the effort. The cold night would chase her off anyway. His eyes filled, and his fist clenched. She'd be gone forever. He'd never see her again. Oh, his traitor heart! Why did it have to hurt so much when he saw this coming from the beginning? It was so obvious, so damn obvious, and he was such an idiot! Such a stupid idiot ...

The gates opened as he reached the stairs, and in that moment, he heard her gasp and start to run. 

He swirled around alarmed just as she reached him and felt her body becoming rigid against his own as a sharp coldness pierced his chest. He stared into her wide unfocused eyes and for a moment, cursed himself for letting his guards down enough to allow her an opportunity at killing him. But then her body went limp, and he instinctively caught her in her fall holding her to him. He looked behind her and saw the Mother Superior standing a few yards behind them bleeding but very much alive - above her palm, an ice-dagger aimed at them. A similar one was sticking out of Mia's back, ending in his chest: it stopped short of hitting his heart. 

He gasped in dread. "Mia..."

She looked up at him but he knew, she didn't see him, and her eyes rolled back in her head.

"Traitors deserve no mercy!" the old woman cried out. "And neither do monsters. You're going to hell to your daddy where you belong, Alucard of Wallachia!" She sent the dagger toward them with dazzling speed, but Alucard's sword was faster and broke it in the air. It then swivelled around and with a precise, elegant swing cut off the Mother Superior's head.

The ice-dagger pinning them together disappeared, and Alucard fell to his knees with Mia in his arms. He instinctively touched his chest where his wound was closing in a second. He looked over at her, blood was gushing from her right shoulder, and she coughed up pink foam.

He held her head up. "Mia," he whispered, his voice trembling.

She coughed, and he wiped the bloody foam from the corner of her mouth. She fought to draw a breath.

"Are you alright?" she asked shakily.

"Of course I am! I'm a vampire, you know my wounds heal quickly! But yours ... What on Earth were you thinking jumping between us like that?!"

"Had to ..." she coughed painfully. "I had to ..."

"Crazy woman!" he tried to press his palm to her wound, and she cried out. "I'm sorry, but we need to make the bleeding stop. Oh, god ..." he muttered seeing her blood everywhere around them, on his hands, on his clothes, on the grass. "We need to get you to a doctor!"

"It's too late," she said fighting for every single breath. "Just don't leave ... don't leave me, please. I don't want to ... die alone..." She tried to focus on his eyes, but the effort to breathe made her shut them.

"You won't die, Mia! I'm helping you, just hold on a little," he gathered her in his arms, but before he could stand, she reached out and grasped his coat.

"No," she said in a low voice. 

"Mia!"

She looked into his eyes. "It's better this way, you know that." She struggled to breathe and coughed again, her hand falling back from his chest to her lap. 

"Better for who?" he asked, his voice breaking. He cupped her cheek. "If you wanted to make me forgive you by doing this, you're playing unfair, and I'm not falling for it, you hear me?"

She struggled to smile and failed. She reached up for his hand but had no strength to take it so he took hers. "Please, be careful," she whispered. "These people are dangerous. And ruthless. Be very carefu-" she coughed again her fingers becoming cramped on his hand. "I-I lo..." she trailed off when her eyes rolled back in her head, and her hand let his go.

He cupped her cheek. "Mia, wake up!" he moaned but leaning to her mouth, he sensed that she stopped breathing. He stared at her unmoving body petrified. No. This cannot be. "You can't do this to me. Please! You cannot..." He broke down sobbing and buried his face in her cheek, in her hair. He held her close giving himself over to his pain, and rocked her gently wishing that dagger stabbed his chest an inch deeper so now they both would be lying in their blood. Dead. But together for all eternity. He sobbed, and it started to rain from heavy clouds washing all the tears and blood away into the dirt.

And through the dark rain, through his tears, he suddenly saw a blinding bright light. When he managed to open his eyes, he could only gape at the vision before him, completely lost for words. In the subsiding whiteness there stood his mother. He vaguely shook his head. She looked deep in his disbelieving eyes then squatted opposite him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"You came to take her?" he asked in a thin voice. _Take me too, please_ , he wanted to beg.

But she shook her head. "I came to help." 

He could only gape again.

She stood. "Follow me, Adrian!"

He didn't need any more nudging to obey.


	6. Chapter 6

The lumps of dirt splattered on the plain wood coffin with a grim thud as Alucard was shovelling the earth into the shallow grave. It was an unusually bright day, despite the weather turning chilly. Digging out the hole in the frozen earth gave even him a bit of a challenge, and he paused for a moment to wipe the sweat off his forehead. He straightened with a grunt putting a hand on the small of his back and took a deep breath. There were black clouds gathering behind the mountains. Soon there would be snow. He should hurry up. He started shovelling again and without him wanting them to, his memories of that devastating day appeared again.

* * *

He followed his mother into her laboratory, carrying Mia in his arms. Her blood left a trail on the long carpet in the hall and in the room. And she was not breathing.

"Put her there," Lisa commanded pointing to the long table. 

Alucard had his sword swipe everything off to make room - most of the instruments were broken already anyway - and he gently lay Mia down. He turned to his mother who was standing at the broken bookshelves with a deep frown.

"What is this ungodly mess, son?" she asked running her finger swiftly over the book spines on the intact shelves. "You and your father. You take the greatest pleasure in making a mess out of my lab! Packing things away? Oh, your highness the king and crown-prince of vampires won't do as menial chores as cleaning!" she grumbled, then glancing at him. "Don't worry, he got a piece of my mind too when we met. Now, don't stand there petrified! While I'm looking, find a tube or a straw, anything that's thin and long and is empty inside. Oh, and also find a knife and cut her clothes off of her chest."

He looked at her with his eyes wide as two saucers.

"But mo-mother..."

"She's not breathing while you're busy being embarrassed! Do it!" she ordered still looking only at the books.

He roamed through the clutter on the shelves like mad to find the tools she ordered him to and with some hesitation, started to cut off Mia's robes careful not to hurt her skin. His hands started to tremble when he uncovered her chest. But his embarrassment dissipated under seeing her blood everywhere on her skin. He wiped it off from around the wound and frowned taken aback. It was barely bleeding - did she bleed out?!

"She hasn't lost that much blood," Lisa replied his thoughts. "You see the foam in the corner of her mouth? It's pink and bubbly. Her lung got hurt but not enough to make her _bleed_ from her mouth. The wound is bleeding but it's bleeding from her flesh, not her lungs, do you understand?"

"But she's not breathing!"

"Yes. And I'm about to explain why. Here!" she said pointing at a book. "This one. Find the section about the chest and lungs."

He ran to her and grabbed the book. It was about basic anatomy. He opened it, and paged through to the part she asked for, though he could barely read the lines: the book was shaking in his hands.

"You see the drawing there?" Lisa pointed to the open book. "There's a membrane around the lungs. It has two layers, see? There. If that is filled with blood, it squeezes the lungs and can even squeeze the heart. This is why she doesn't breath. You need to make a hole between her ribs on her side and let the blood out."

Alucard gaped at her in dread. "You want me to cut _into_ her?!"

"You need to do it if you want to have a chance at saving her."

They rushed back to Mia, and he was surprised to see that her lips were blue. She was still alive, he realized, but couldn't breathe.

"Move your fingers down her side and count the ribs," Lisa said. "When you reach the eighth, that's where you need to cut."

His fist clenched the knife, and he followed his mother's instructions to find the right spot on Mia's side. When he did and put the point of the knife to it, his hand was shaking so much, he didn't dare to move it.

"I-I can't..." he breathed.

He then felt his mother's hands on his shoulders. "Just take a deep breath and hold it in while you move the knife forward."

"Oh, god ..." he said but obeyed her and pushed the knife in a little.

"That's perfect," Lisa said, "stop right there. You may pull the knife out. Now, push that straw inside. But be very careful, don't hurt her lung."

He had to hold his breath again to make his shaking hand steady, but he did as his mother told him. In a moment, blood started to drip from the free end of the straw. A pool of blood formed on the floor before Mia finally drew a ragged breath, and he looked at his mother barely believing his eyes. It worked. 

Lisa smiled. "You did great, you saved her life!"

"Oh, my god!" he whispered wiping Mia's hair away from her face and watched her breathing. Oh, god, breathing! Her head turned to the side, and her eyes opened for a moment, though he could tell, she was not conscious. 

"It's alright, don't move. Just stay still! Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine..." His last word was swallowed by the sob that blurted through his lips, and he buried his face in her hair for a moment, before feeling exhaustion overpowering him, and he collapsed on the ground. He went on crying like a child staring at the pool of blood next to him still growing, then at his hands. They were soaked in her blood too, and he bowed his head as his tears slid down his cheeks, his shoulders shaking. In a moment's time, he felt his mother's arms around him, and he held on to her as if his life depended on that hug.

"Thank you," he moaned gasping for breath through his agony.

"Oh, no, don't thank me," Lisa said stroking his hair.

He pulled away to look at her through his tears, and she gently wiped them away with her thumbs. "It was all you."

He watched her stunned, and she held his hands. "My knowledge is yours. You read all the books I wrote. You have it all up here," she said pointing to his head. "And I. I am in here," she whispered pressing her palm to his heart.

"Mother ... So I'm just imagining you?"

"You created what you needed in order to save her."

He crushed her in an embrace. She let him cry into her for a good few minutes before letting him go. And he found himself sobbing under the table - all alone.

* * *

He took a deep breath and wiped his cheeks vaguely surprised by the wetness on the back of his hand. The memories were so all-consuming each time they appeared, he barely had any grasp on reality while seeing them. 

"Wuss," he heard from above him and looking up, he saw Trevor sitting in the tree. He jumped off the thick branch and wiped an escaped tear off Alucard's face. "You keep crying like a wench. Whereas you should be dancing with happiness that you're not digging this grave for your little traitor friend."

Alucard went back shovelling the last lumps up the mound and then started to walk back to the Castle.

"So why end up with a lumbago to bury a wicked witch who tried to kill you and almost killed your girl at all?"

"Because she asked me to," Alucard replied not looking at him. "And don't use that word. You cannot know it. Dumbass."

"Oh, and you have an innate need to obey every delirious sentence she utters? You really are a good little puppy dog, my friend. When are you learning to wag your tail? Oh, I'm an idiot, you can shape-shift into a wolf and do just that!"

"Shut up, Belmont," Alucard growled on a dangerously low voice.

Trevor laughed. "Yes, because me shutting up would make burying an assassin at the cost of a severe backache make more sense!"

Alucard swirled around. "Mia was begging me not to stake the Mother Superior but bury her. And she may be talking nonsense in her fever, but I'll bury the entire Forest of the Dead if that gives her her piece of mind, so shut the fuck up!" He slouched and collapsed on the stairs leading up to the gates, the shovel rolled down with a loud clutter, and he buried his forehead in his palm.

Trevor sat next to him and patted his back. "You're doing all that you can for her, Alucard."

"Yes, and she still has fever, even after three weeks and barely comes to. I might have killed her with that makeshift surgery because I forgot to sterilize that damn knife! And I'm running out of that goddamn substance my mother used to make out of mould that would bring her fever down and even if I read my eyes out of their slots, I haven't a clue how to make that!" he looked at Trevor desperate, feeling his tired eyes fill.

Trevor held up his hands. "Er, we're friends but don't make me kick your ass for trying to hug me."

Alucard chuckled swallowing his tears. "As if you could."

"Hey, I almost did."

"Yes, emphasis on almost."

Trevor looked at him with a mock-frown. "It was a _draw_. I spared you only so that my good tunic is not ruined by your guts."

"Bragger," Alucard chuckled then stood and taking the shovel went inside.

He washed his hands and face then prepared another bottle of medication. He was walking on the corridor when Trevor joined him again.

"You know you should prepare for the winter, don't you."

Alucard sighed. "Yes, but I can't leave her for a long time to look for food in the forest."

"If you run out of food, you'll need to. But you know what would be the easiest option, don't you?"

"Yeah, going into town and buy groceries. And while I'm at it, shouldn't I invite all the town's folk, ready to hunt me, for a good ale?"

Trevor laughed. "I wouldn't complain in their places if you did."

"Big surprise, Trevor Belmont accepting a drink even from a vampire," Alucard said chuckling and stepped into Mia's room. He stopped short meeting her jaded gaze. They stared at each other for a long moment.

"Yo-You're awake," he said in a low voice.

"And you're talking to yourself," she equalled with a tiny smile. 

She was lying among the pillows as if the bed was ready to swallow her petite body. She was exhausted and pale. But she was _not_ delirious. She was ... she seemed better!

"Er, no, I'm not talking to myself," he said self-consciously and stepped to the curtains to let the sunshine in. "I'm actually talking to my friends."

"Oh?"

"Whom only I can see," he finished turning to her. 

She was so pale. And so thin. He let out a troubled breath. Yes, he'd need to go shopping to feed her proper food. She needed to get her strength back. And she wouldn't, eating the food he could collect in a forest ready for the winter sleep.

"I prepared your medication," he said putting the bottle and spoon down on the bedside table. "Will you try to sit to take it?"

"I don't think I can," she breathed already tired from speaking.

"I'll help you. I'll need to take a look at your wounds anyway, and it'd be easier if you sat." 

She nodded. He sat opposite her and leaning above her, he carefully slid his palms underneath her back and waist. "Try to put your good arm about my neck," he said feeling his cheeks burning as he was holding her so close. She obeyed, and he gently pulled her into a sitting position. She grunted in pain and felt her shoulder when he let her go.

"It hurts," he said troubled.

"Not that bad. But I can feel it," she said watching him as he poured the substance out on the spoon.

"This will help," he said and fed her the spoonful of medication.

He felt her forehead gently. "You don't have fever."

She nodded, and he met her eyes. She had dark circles under them and her face was thin. She lost so much weight. It still was a long way till she was fully out of the woods.

"How come I'm not staked?" she asked silently.

He gaped at the question then tried to hide his shock and busied himself with putting away the spoon and bottle on the bedside table. "This vampire reserves the right to stake whoever he wishes whenever he wishes, Sister Mioara."

"So you're going into so much trouble to heal me so you could put me on display still alive like the postman?"

Their eyes met, and she gave him a tiny smile. She then slid her hand on top of his, her gaze full of gratitude. He couldn't make himself pull away. Her hand was cold and he took it into both of his gently to warm it. Her eyes filled.

"Thank you," she muttered and when she sniffled, she put her hand to her shoulder. "Oh, god, even crying hurts."

"So don't cry!" he said strictly. "Let me see your wounds and you're going back to sleep. Can you slide the nightgown off your shoulder or do you need help?"

She gasped and blushed furiously, "You don't mean ... you do, don't you?" she whispered abashed.

"Mia," he said dropping his gaze as embarrassed as she was. "How do you think I tended to your wounds in the last three weeks? Look. I just want to help. I'd never take advantage of a situation like that ... o-or any other for that matter!" he stammered stupidly.

A chuckle blurted through her lips, but she hissed in pain again. 

"Don't laugh either!" he ordered.

"May I draw a breath?" she asked in mock-indignation.

He stared into her eyes. "You're obliged to." 

After a a short moment, he decided to try to solve their awkward situation. He stood and sat behind her. He then slid the nightgown off her shoulders with a feather-light touch. She held the garment up to cover her nudity with her good hand while he changed the dressing on her wounds. 

When he first saw her back, he was shocked to see that it was just as full of whipmarks as her chest. It was as if somebody wanted to take her beauty away to make sure she'd never be loved or craved after. His blood boiled each time he saw the marks. That monster couldn't have been more wrong in the intent. Despite her scars, she was the most beautiful creature on Earth he'd ever seen.

When he was done, he helped her put the gown back on, his hands lingered on her shoulders, stroking her with his thumbs. She turned to him, and he swallowed hard having her so close. He ran his gaze down the line of her nose to her lips then to the curve of her neck wishing he could explore the lines of her face with his lips. When he raised his gaze to her eyes, he caught her staring at his lips longingly - he surely didn't imagine it this time! She wanted it too, his thoughts screamed. And his imagination took on an insane speed, and he saw themselves kissing almost mindlessly tearing the clothes off of each other not bearing even another instant more without each other. And he'd lie above her, entwine his fingers through hers and make love to her until they both screamed from pleasure.

He stood and staggered to the arm chair right next to her bed. _You're crazy_ , he told himself. _She's so sick she barely can sit and you're thinking about taking her?_ He buried his forehead in his palm, _you're worse than an animal_.

He felt her touch his knee, and he looked at her startled.

She took her hand away. "You seem awfully tired."

He took a long deep breath. "I'm fine."

"You've been tending to me for the last weeks, and it's obvious you barely got any sleep."

"I said I'm fine," he said standing and then helped her lie back down.

"Please, get some rest in your bed. I'll be fine here, I promise."

He looked at her with his features carved in stone. "No. This chair is perfectly comfortable for me. I'm not going to leave you alone for more than a few minutes. You can't even reach for your glass on the bedside table, if you're thirsty."

"I'll call out if I need anything."

"My coffin is in the basement, even my hearing is not _that_ good."

"You sleep in a coffin?" she asked with so much innocence that it took his breath away.

"I'm a vampire. Vampires sleep in coffins."

"Why is a coffin better than a bed?"

"Because I'm a vampire. For me, it's better."

"That's circular reasoning," she said with a small but almost cheeky smile.

His frown deepened. "Do you have a point? Because I'm quite ready to give you something that would put you to sleep if you don't do it yourself."

"You could sleep here. Beside me," she said softly.

He gaped wide-eyed. "What?"

"It's the biggest bed I've ever seen in my life. Five people could sleep in it ,and I'm just one tiny nun. Or ... once-nun ... You sleep on that side, and I sleep here. I can't move too much anyway, I won't bother you... I'm worried about you. Please."

The images of a minute before of the two of them together in one bed returned with elemental force - but they quickly changed. And there he was lying helpless under the knives of two traitors. He put a hand to his heart where those blades were ready to stab him.

"I'm not sharing a bed with a traitor," he snapped and went to the door. He looked back at her and swallowed the guilt her distressed look triggered. "I'm back in a minute with that sleep medication."

"Don't bother," she muttered turning her head to the window. "I'll shut up."

He walked back to his chair and waited until her eyes closed and her breathing evened out. He then knelt beside her and wiped her tears with a catch in his throat. He couldn't stop himself and pressed his lips to her temple for a few seconds. 

"I'm sorry, Mia. But I cannot allow this to happen between us." 

He ran his fingers through her hair and then sat back into the armchair and dozed off watching her sleep.

* * *

Finally, he listened to Trevor and the next day, went to buy groceries. By the time he finished, it was getting dark, and the streets got deserted. He had to admit, he felt more comfortable in the dark, especially when a group of armed men in militaristic uniform were marching off beside him. He looked after them with a frown. He'd never seen that uniform before. The sight made him even more uneasy than the fact that he had to roam the town did. He walked up to the wall of the Townhall with two full baskets in his hands and with his hood pulled down to his nose. He studied the announcements to see if there was anything of interest written there. There was an announcement about the Bishop hiring mercenaries which explained the uniforms, but his attention was rather drawn by his own name written in red on one of the papers. The Church was ready to pay for his head.

"You're new in town, son?" he heard from the side and squinted from under his hood.

"Yes," he said in a low voice.

"Ah, I know what's on your mind, you want to try your luck at the Castle up the mountains! To see what treasures the vampire is hiding. But I'm warning you, you'd better find yourself a different beast to try your hands at. If you like to see another day, that is."

"Why?" 

The man leaned a little closer. "Well, heed my words, sonny boy. Whoever goes up there, never comes down! Dracula drinks them all and stakes their dry bodies! 

"Dracula?"

"Yes. Well, the younger version. His sonny boy." The man steepled his fingers. "See, he used to be called Alucard. The opposite of his father. But trust me, the only difference is that he's worse than the daddy! Imagine, last time, innocent nuns went up to that cursed Castle of his. Their bodies are still scattered in his front yard! But they will get the stakes up their pure little virgin asses too in no time, trust me!"

Alucard tilted his hooded head. "How can you know what's in the vampire's front yard if no one ever survives visiting the Castle?"

"Oh, just trust me, the Bishop has his sources to spy without the vampire suspecting anything." He grunted putting an arm around Alucard's shoulder and started to talk on a lower voice. "You seem a trusty fellow, I tell you. See, I work in the garden of the cathedral in Targoviste at times. And I hear a thing or two. Last time I heard the Bishop uses trained night creatures to fly over the Castle. To spy for him. The Bishop's a cunning fellow. Unlike that vicious beast. Dumb as mud but vicious as his father I say ... killing all those nuns. Barbaric!"

"Why would a vampire kill nuns?"

"Oh, my son, you want to go hunt a vampire and you know so little about them? It's simple. They love virgin flesh! He wanted a breeder. I hear one body was missing. The youngest of the five. The others tried to protect her, but he killed them and took that one to breed her."

Alucard gasped hearing that and cleared his throat pulling the hood lower in his face. "That-That is vicious indeed."

"Right. Well between the two of us, I don't blame that fiend for the choice. I used to know that girl. Was a shame she was a nun. Tight as a drum and fresh as a peach, hmmm." He smacked his lips. "She could have done better than with a vampire. But now ..." he hung his head.

"What now?" Alucard asked feeling his blood boiling but keeping himself in firm check.

"Well, you know what. Even if that beast let her go, which he won't, you can trust me on that - she can't go back to be a nun and she won't be taken by any sane man. She bedded the devil. Or at least the closest kin. Who'd even look upon her? The whore of the new Dracula. Personally, if I saw her lingering around here, I'd surely slash her throat. No need for her to spread evil in our peaceful small town. See, a man's got to do what a man has got to do, even if it's messy, sonny boy."

Alucard felt his claws appear hearing that and his hands clenched in fists - blood dripping through his fingers where his claws cut the skin of his palms.

"I'm not your boy," he hissed and grasping the front of the man's coat lifted him off the ground and showed his eyes glowing against the darkness. "I'm Dracula's."

The man gasped, and the blood drained from his face. 

"Tell your friends at the inn, if you dare lay a finger on that woman, the son of Dracula will stake you _alive_. And will keep you that way ... for a long, long time."

The man nodded weakly, and Alucard let him go. A wet patch was forming on the man's pants, and Alucard stepped away before the poor chap fell to his knees. He left him there petrified in his own dirt and walked away with the baskets.

By the time he got home, his mood couldn't have been more grim. He cut up the vegetables for the soup brooding on what to do. If he sent Mia on her way as it was, she'd not only be an outcast, she'd be in danger. If he kept her here, she'd be a prisoner. He put the knife down and bowed his head. No, he couldn't do that to her. He couldn't trap her with him in the torturing loneliness they shared now. She had to go. Some place safe. He filled water into a pot from a pitcher and when the tiny ripples died away he saw his reflection. The mirror. He could send her to a land where no one knew her. Through his father's distance mirror.

He collapsed in a chair staring into mid-distance. It needed to be done. 

"Says who?" Sypha asked leaning to the doorpost.

"I do. And don't start arguing with me, I'm not in the mood," he said and standing, started adding the ingredients into the water.

"Why?" she appeared next to him. She poked him on the side. "Hey, why?"

"Didn't you notice, I'm pretending that I'm not noticing you?" Alucard grunted annoyed. 

Sypha sat on the table pouting. "Ah, how many times do we need to tell you. We're in your head, Alucard. If you didn't want to have a conversation, you wouldn't make us up."

He looked daggers at her putting down the half-cut carrot. "Fine. You need to know why? Because she _deserves_ better. That's why." He let out a long breath gazing outside. "You heard that man. Dracula's son is worse than the father. I reached my goal of scaring the shit out of every living thing in Wallachia. And she must not suffer from that." 

She put a gentle hand on his arm. "Alucard, she took that dagger for you. She almost died for you she's so attached to you. You think you're not hurting her if you send her away?"

"If I send her away, she has a chance at having a life. But there's nothing here for her with me. Just death and suffering."

Sypha's eyes filled with tears. "I wish I was real and could knock some sense in that thick dhampir skull of yours."

"With a stake?" Alucard asked giving her a tiny smile and gently wiped a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Your boyfriend surely would appreciate having a chance to put the skull of the new Dracula on display in the Hold." 

* * *

He brought the plate of soup into the room on a tray and noticed with a troubled frown that Mia was lying in the exact same position he'd left her a few hours ago, blankly staring out the window. He went to the bedside table and put the tray down.

"It's time for you to eat a proper meal," he said looking at her.

She kept her eyes on the window. "Not hungry," she breathed, and it seemed even that took her a huge effort.

He squatted to her and felt her forehead. Her eyes closed at the touch. "You don't have fever. You need to eat, you need to get your strength back."

Her eyes moved from the window to his gaze. "Why did you save me?"

He frowned. "If you can ask silly questions you can eat as well."

"Why did you save me?" she asked, her voice breaking. "Why save a traitor?"

"Mia-"

"Tell me!" she demanded trying to sit up. "Just tell me, ah..." she moaned in pain.

"Stop this," he whispered leaning above her.

He put his palm on her good shoulder and soothingly but firmly pushed her back on the bed. Her body went limp from the exhaustion of the effort, and she gasped for breath staring into his eyes.

He slid his hand down her arm and took her hand in his, sitting opposite her on the bed. 

"You're not the traitor, Mia," he heard himself, looking only at her tiny hand in his. He stroked her knuckles with his thumb waiting for her breathing to even out. He then raised his gaze and looked into her eyes. "My heart is." He stared into her eyes for a good few heartbeats, then squeezed her hand. "You need to get better. Nothing is more important than that."

She seemed to let his words sink in and then nodded slowly. "I think I could eat now," she said in a tiny voice. "Will you help me?"

He reached out to her and holding her close helped her sit up. She rested her forehead on his chest to catch her breath, and he let her supporting her with a hand on her back. Her hair caressed his chin and lips. _Oh, you're so close - how can you be so far?_ She raised her head, and he pulled away to pick up the tray and help her eat her soup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet when you started reading this story, you didn't see a Castlevania x ER crossover coming at a certain point lol. The medical procedure described is an actual thing called Thoracentesis. According to wikipedia, it was first performed in 1850, but given that we saw Lisa using antibiotics in the canon, I figured, she could have invented all sorts of medical procedures way ahead of her time.  
> Thanks for reading! Feedback always welcome! :)


	7. Chapter 7

Alucard was sitting in the armchair next to Mia's bed reading. Mia had been steadily improving and by the time, he ran out of the medicine he’d been giving her, it seemed she didn't need it anymore. So he let go of his mother's medical papers and returned to his original reading material: his father's journals. He adjusted his position with a grunt - that chair had been killing him. He'd been sitting in it day and night watching over Mia and despite trying to make himself comfortable by being barefoot and pulling his knees up to his chest, it still was a torturing device on his back after long weeks of sitting, sleeping and huddling in it.

He glanced at her and met her gaze. "Oh, you're awake, do you need something?" he asked closing the book.

She shook her head, and her eyes wandered to his book. "That's strange."

"What is?"

"Your book. It doesn't have a cover."

He cleared his throat, running a finger down the book's bare spine. "It used to. But I cut it off."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want to upset you if you happen to see it."

She gave him a small surprised smile. "Why? What was on it? A monster or perhaps ... some naked ladies?"

"No! Well, there wasn’t anything on it in particular. But it was made of human skin." She gasped shocked, and he glanced at her self-consciously. "It's my father's journals."

"Why are you reading them if they are so terrible?"

He shook his head. "The stories are not all terrible. And I'm reading them because it's the only way I can understand how he was looking at the world. You know, we ... we weren't very close."

"Because of the age difference or because of his ... past?" she asked tentatively.

"Oh, the age difference was enormous. And I was always closer to my mother. But I wasn't aware of his past until my early teens." He stared into mid-distance as his words started to flow. "I accidentally saw some of his plans on how to get rid of humanity. How to conquer the earth and bury it under an endless invented night. So that vampires could harvest what's left to their delight. He had made those plans before he met my mother. But that was the first time I realized what a dangerous man my father was. My mother fought for us to get along better, to find a common understanding. But as a child, it's not easy to accept that your father was capable of hurting the people of your mother. People who were as fragile as she was." His eyes dropped to the book. "Nowadays, I'm finding a deeper understanding for his deeds and motivations."

"And bitterness."

He looked at her as if he just noticed her. 

"Bad deeds will just breed more bad deeds. It's a devil feeding on its own self. And growing, never depleting. The answer is not more bad deeds, but forgiveness. But you understand that better than anyone else."

His hands clutched the book. "That is ridiculous. Why would I embrace the pious demagogy of your religion?"

"You stopped his war. Hadn't you forgiven humanity for killing your mother, you'd have let him continue or worse, would have helped him." She let out a sigh. "Believe me, I'm not the greatest believer either." Her eyes wandered to the darkness outside. "If you experience cruelty and see that some people even steep so low to enjoy it, you stop praying and believing that there's a god above."

"But you're a nun."

"I used to be," she said softly, and Alucard could hear the pain over the truth of that sentence in her voice. "But I didn't need to believe in a loving, caring almighty to marry him. I just had to believe in goodness and forgiveness. And the fact that you can use your life for the betterment of others. Because that's the real fight against the darkness around us. And that is why I respect your mother so deeply."

"She ... she did believe in that," he sighed. "I wish ... I wish you had had a chance to get to know her. You'd have gotten along." They smiled at each other tentatively, and he turned his head back to the book again, his hair hiding his blush. He patted the first page with his thumb.

"Read it to me," she said, and he looked at her taken aback.

"Mia, it's not the most delightful fairy tale to hear before bed."

"I know. But the silence is deafening. And I like listening to your voice." He fidgeted letting his hair cover all his face, and she went on. "If you can bear reading it, I can bear listening to it. At least we'd have the same nightmares."

He still thought it was a crazy idea. But finally, opened the book and started to read.

_Adrian made his mother very upset today. He went playing with the local urchins, the way I always forbid him to. And he came home telling us proudly that his best friend gave him a new nickname he loved. 'It's daddy's name but backwards', he said and laughed his tinkling laugh that makes me think of having a lump of wax in my chest which starts to melt each time I hear that laugh. I couldn't be angry at him. My little boy, misled by a pest that human kid was..._

_Alucard the name was. I asked him how the boy came up with it, and Adrian said, apparently the kid overheard his parents talking about the mysterious family who took a walk together only at night - as we always do after sunset. And that everybody in the village can see how different he is from his father. Almost as if we were the mirror image of one another. He full of light and innocence. And me full of darkness and evil. Adrian said he was angry at the kid afterwards and made him take back the bad words he used on his daddy. But he still liked the nickname because it had a funny sound to it._

_I've never seen Lisa as upset as she was that night after we put our boy to bed. I can imagine it's difficult for her to bear the thought that the two people she loves the most would be opposing each other. I soothed her telling her it meant nothing. And that Adrian will forget all about it very soon. He's too little to understand that the funny name he got from his 'friend' was causing his mother pain. So after I read him his bedtime story, I held him close and told him if he loved that name so much, let us make it the secret of the two of us. He promised he'd not say that name in front of Lisa again. Afterwards, he fell asleep cuddled up to me. At times like that, I find myself completely astonished at how I am capable of feeling such strong love for a tiny little life he is. For I have killed so many a life like that, humans, vampires - it didn't matter, I felt nothing. They had no face, they had no soul. They weren't REAL. But Adrian and Lisa. I'd give my life for them. Any day._

_Tonight, when they both were deep asleep, I made sure his friend would never bother us again. I..._

Alucard trailed off and stared fixedly at the text. "Here..." suddenly his voice got lost. "Here comes a very detailed description of what he did to the boy." He closed the book and bowed his head.

"Do you remember this?" he heard Mia's voice and looked at her as if awakened from a dream.

He nodded slowly. "I-I was about four. We spent the summers in Opatija. My mother used to love that place, we had a house very near the sea. It was one of the rare places we didn't travel to using the Castle. My mother wanted us to be just an ordinary family on holiday." He looked at the book distressed. "My parents strictly kept me with them after this and never let me play with other boys again. I never really understood why. And I never knew that the boy ... As if he could have stopped the spread of that name like wildfire amongst the people by killing him."

He stood and went to look out the window. "Dracula ... trying to be a good father."

He heard the bedclothes rustle and by the time he turned back, Mia was already sitting, her feet on the ground. His eyes widened.

"What are you doing? You'll hurt yourself!" he said going to her side just in time to catch her as she tried standing.

She looked at him putting a hand to his chest, to his heart. "I was about to go to you and drag you out of that terrible misery, you're pushing yourself into."

"You cannot drag anything anywhere. You can barely lift your arm."

She proved him wrong by reaching out with her good hand and cupping his cheek. "Never read this again. Please."

He let out a frustrated breath, "Mia..."

"I'm begging you. It is alright to mourn him, to remember him in your heart, because he was your father and you loved him. But he's not you, you don't need to understand what was inside the disturbed mind of a man who after kissing his own boy goodnight goes and drinks someone else's baby. Please." She stroked his cheek with a thumb. "Instead of drowning in the past, write your own book."

He snorted lowering his gaze. "I'm not good with words. I always liked drawing better."

"You know what I meant."

He frowned in mock-irritation. "Yes, you meant to fix this and fix me. Well, at least I can see you're feeling better now that you're back to your interfering-with-everything annoying-the-heck-out-of-me normal self."

She gave him a cheeky smile. "Imagine how bored you'd be if I simply nodded along with everything you do."

He let out a breath. "Shrew. Now, get back to bed."

She threw her head back and laughed. "There. You got your proof of divine providence," she said sitting on the bed. "God is not punishing you with sickness or a lightning strike. Instead you got me."

He tucked her in gently. "Sleep now. You'll need your strength to harass me tomorrow too." He stopped himself from taking her face in his palms and giving her a kiss on the forehead, but she did reach out and took his hand.

"Good night. Adrian."

He wanted to tell her not to say that name again. He wanted it badly. Because he chose his fate, and didn't want the illusion of walking another path. But somehow, hearing that name from her mouth was just as right as it used to be hearing it from his mother's.

"Good night, Mia," he whispered and turned off the lamp.

* * *

Alucard was slowly waking from his deep slumber and for a moment felt completely disoriented. He was in a bed - he hadn't been in one for over a year now. It wasn't entirely uncomfortable, but this fact was registered by his mind only vaguely. His attention was rather drawn to the fact that somebody was lying on his chest. He blinked the sleepiness away and turned his head to the window. It was still dark, though he could see well in the faint moonlight. Trying to move his hand, it encountered the warm body next to - and across – him, and he stopped short of touching Mia's aching shoulder. 

With a soft moan, she snuggled more into him, and he suddenly felt the warmth of her palm on his lower abdomen. His body became petrified. His shirt must have gotten pulled up a little in his sleep leaving his skin bare above his belt. She settled with a long sigh, and her warm breath caressed the fine hairs of his lower abdomen. His breath was caught in his throat. He never felt something as delicate and hot at the very same time, and he was grateful for the darkness because blood was rushing to his groins with insane speed. And her hand was still there only inches from his desire growing in his pants making them terribly uncomfortable.

Breathe, breathe ... he told himself, desperately trying to find something to think about that would dismiss his arousal.

"As if you didn't have a library of horrors in your head to think about that were anything but hot!" he heard Trevor and saw his smug face swimming into focus above him. 

"Yes, starting with your ugly visage," Alucard grunted.

"How on Earth did you manage to end up in this pitiful situation?" Trevor asked on the verge of breaking out in laughter.

"Uhm, she was having a nightmare."

"Are you surprised? After the fairy tale you read her."

"Ah, shut up. I-I didn't know how to soothe her without waking her or hurting her shoulder. When she was crying for over ten minutes I got into bed and tried to hold her close."

"It totally worked, as I see. Lucky you didn't make a resolve of keeping a three-steps distance from her. Oh, wait..."

"I didn't mean to fall asleep, it's just ah, a month sleeping sitting in that goddamn armchair and my back was screaming to stretch out on a flat surface, so I stayed a little and ..."

"And ended up in the torture chamber of pleasures," Trevor chuckled.

Mia adjusted her position again, and her hand slid to his navel. His eyes snapped open feeling her trace it with her thumb. Was she awake and doing this on purpose?!

Trevor's head disappeared for a moment then reappearing he said. "Nope. She's sound asleep."

"Uh-um," Alucard whimpered.

"Just get out from under her, loser," Trevor chuckled.

"No, no, I don't want to wake her, I'm glad she's finally sleeping. She's always having some sort of a nightmare that disturbs her sleep, and she needs rest to get better."

"Yes, she does," he heard her voice mumble against his skin barely articulating. She was most probably still half-asleep.

"Sorry," he whispered, his face turning red.

"Am I heavy?" she asked on a firmer voice, and her thumb stroked his navel - he was certain she had no clue what effect that had on him. He wasn't even convinced she noticed doing it at all.

"Nnno," he grunted. "No, no ... no, it's fine. It's fine."

"You're alright?" she asked, and her voice was starting to be alarmed.

"Yes-yes, just," he cleared his throat, "just go back to sleep."

She let out a long breath, and he squeezed his eyes shut feeling its warmth on his skin again. It was the sweetest, most exquisite torture he ever was put under, and he had no idea if he was praying for it to end or for it to endure.

"Your heart is racing," she said. "Did you have a nightmare too?"

"No. Don't worry about it. Just sleep, alright?"

"I thought you were talking to ... to your friends again because you had a nightmare."

He didn't reply. He didn't know what to say to her knowing about his departing sanity. But at least, his arousal lessened over the thought.

"You could talk to me too," she said in a tiny voice. "I'm right here."

His insides melted like butter under the warmth of the sun. He raised his hand and stroked her hair. It was silky under his fingers.

"Normally, all they do is pulling my leg."

"I can do that too."

"Oh, don't I know!"

They chuckled in unison, and his fingers slid from her hair to the curve of her ear. He traced it with his thumb gently, and she let out a soft sigh. He then felt her fingers circling his navel again. This time it was not an accidental caress, and he closed his eyes. He knew he should stop themselves from immersing into this, but he just couldn't break the spell that was cast over them. He savored every singular moment, every tiny movement, every sensation. Her fingers slid upward, under his shirt and she traced the scar his father left on him. He was surprised to find that the skin there was extremely sensitive. He held back a whimper under her hand.

"I'm not the only one with scars of the past," she said silently stroking the length of it.

He let out a short breath. "You've seen it partly already."

"But I wasn't aware it was so deep and long. And you're a vampire. Shouldn't you heal instantly without a scar?"

"Not of a wound this deep, no." He combed through her hair again - it was such a soothing sensation.

"Was it your father?"

"Yes, Mia. But I don't want to talk about it. And you should go back to sleep."

She ran her fingers over the scar again, and he shut his eyes. He saw his father's enraged, maddened eyes, and felt the fear, and he was surprised to hear his own distant voice starting to talk.

"It happened right after my mother died. He was in rage. I'd seen him angry before, but not like that. It was as if he was a different man. Someone I never before seen." His hand stopped on her neck and ear. "I told him I'd not let him do it. I'd not let him avenge her by committing genocide. When he attacked me, I wasn't prepared for it at all. He never lay a finger on me. Not until that moment." He suddenly needed to catch his breath. "Never in my life would I have thought he'd be able to hurt me. When he did, I knew he was ... he was gone. He wasn't simply mad. He was not himself anymore. Looking into his eyes, I was sure he was ready to kill me then and there. I ... I think I begged him not to. I begged him to look at me and _see_ me! But I'm sure it wasn't my pathetic pleading that made him change his mind. He dragged me to his study and threw me through his distance mirror. I was bleeding so bad that I barely could stay conscious. It took me a while to understand I was close to the catacombs of Gresit. He knew I had my private keep there. I was thinking ... perhaps he hoped I would simply sleep his war over there. But then I realized he must have known of the prophecy too. And I realized he wanted it to be fulfilled."

"He wanted to die?"

He nodded grunting yes not able to speak anymore. He put a hand in front of his face to hold back the sob that welled up so suddenly. He wished he could just get up from under her and run. Run as far as he could.

But she snuggled tightly into him and wrapping her arm around his waist held him firmly in his distress. He heard her soft moan of pain because her shoulder hurt so much that it must have been difficult for her to make such an effort. But she still held him close. It touched him in a way he was never before touched. 

He slid his hand to her cheek and wiped a tear away, then slid his fingers into her hair, and she leaned into the touch.

He took a deep breath, and his tears stopped flowing. Despite her lying on him, he felt a weight was lifted from over his chest that had been there ever since his mother died. He felt free. He wanted to stay this way. Forever. He wanted to say the words. He wanted to beg her never to leave him. But his tongue remained tied. His mouth stayed shut. And he felt her slipping away from him as he fell into a deep sleep again.

* * *

The next thing he knew was the sharp light of the sun painfully blinding him through his lids as he lay there like a log, his arms spread out and above his head, his mouth open and dry, and his hair all over his face. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned to his stomach with a groan, not conscious enough to care that his hair was sticking into the drool on his chin and buried his face into the pillow hugging it tightly. His back started to hurt and grunting he curled into a fetal position. That damn chair ... I'll chop it up for tinder the moment Mia gets better.

He raised his head wide-eyed. Mia. He turned his head about - but she was nowhere to be seen. He sprang out of bed as if he was stung with a needle in the butt. He swivelled around dumbly though he was sure she was not in the room. Her fragrance was much less intense than when she was around.

He ran out of the room in such a mindless rush that he even forgot to put on his boots. Where the hell was she? Why didn't she wake him? Why the fuck did he not wake up when she got out of bed?! What if she gets lost in the forest - what if she gets lost in the Castle? What if she finds her way to the engine room and gets dizzy from the heights and then ... He felt the blood running out of his body over that thought, turning his knees into jelly. He reached the main staircase and was just about to simply jump off two stories to reach the hall, when he saw her. He stopped short and became aware of his heart wanting to leap out of his chest. He let out a long breath.

She was sitting next to the banister on the stairs, she had his coat over her shoulders, but other than that she was only wearing her thin nightgown and no shoes. 

He took another deep breath - no shouting, no shouting. Just pick her up and put her back under the duvet. He walked down to her and she turned her head to him with a tired smile.

"Good morning," she said, "did you sleep well?"

"Did I sleep well."

"Yes, or is that not the proper thing to ask in the morning?" she asked, her smile widening.

"The proper thing. The proper thing to ask is whether I woke well. Where the hell have you been?" he asked growling on a dangerously low voice.

"I just wanted to freshen up a little at the creek. I haven't been outside for a month now. But this is how far I got, I got tired." She pulled the front of his coat more tightly together. "Sorry to take your coat, but I couldn't find my clothes anywhere."

"You couldn't find your clothes."

"Are you going to repeat everything I state or ask?"

"You know why you _didn't_ find your clothes?!" he shouted, making a shiver run through her. "Because they were all so bloody that I needed to throw them away. Oh, and not to mention the fact that they were in rags because I had to cut them off of you to stick a goddamn knife into your chest so that you can start breathing again! And you just run out to freshen up? You're in no condition to go anywhere, let alone outside."

"You know I've been feeling better the last few days, so I thought-"

"Oh, yeah? So then be my guest. Take a walk outside. Contract pneumonia in your nightgown or feed yourself to the first night creature that crosses your path, or let the hunters after me slash your throat - or let the stupid idiot townspeople burn you alive for being the concubine of the vampire, the way they think you are. Go on! The gates are open. Ahshit..." he collapsed on the stairs behind her, leaning his back to the banister. He pulled his knees to his chest and buried his face in his arms. All he could see behind his shut lids was her shocked – even frightened face. Why did he always have the need to shout at her like that?

"I was not eaten by dragons, Adrian."

"Ah, you were not," he sighed leaning his head back and staring up the ceiling many-many stories up. He should say sorry. He knew he should. But he was just so damn ...

He then felt her touch his chin with the tips of her fingers, and she gently turned his face to her. 

"I haven't gone anywhere," she whispered. "I'm right here."

His breath was caught and before he could think, she leaned into him and kissed him on the mouth. It was the very first time she did and ah, god it was overpowering! A soft moan escaped his lips as she tilted her head, and he pulled her against him by the waist. He slid a hand to the back of her head and slipped his tongue into her mouth. It made her grasp his shirt on his chest with a breathless sigh. He grunted tormented and wanted to push her away but just held her more firmly against him and kissed her with a new-found desperation. He broke away from her lips just to kiss her chin and cheek and ear sliding his hand down her arm to her hand. He entwined his fingers through hers and kissed her knuckles and her palm and then just buried his face into his arm on his knees holding on to her hand like a man drowning. He breathed heavily and whimpered torn between his wishes and what he thought was right.

He felt her slide her hand up his arm to his shoulder to stroke his hair.

"Do you need to fight this so hard?"

He raised his head and looked into her eyes. They were full of devotion. He grasped her hand.

"I do. You know I do. And you should too."

"Why?" she sighed. "Oh, do you really think it was that easy for me? For a woman who used to be the slut of a cruel old man for years? Oh, do you have any idea what it took me to ..." She gasped and her eyes filled – and he wasn’t sure who was grasping who anymore. "Do you know how I got those whipmarks? At one time, I couldn't take it anymore! I couldn't bear the pain, his smell, his weight, his forcing himself on to me night after night, and I fought him. He was a huge man, I barely could scratch his face, but when he finished, he said: if I made him ugly, he returns the favour! Can you have any idea what it takes to say that now, here I am wanting a man? Can you?"

He stared into her eyes. Her eyes that reflected the same emotions he'd felt after he ... But he stayed silent. It was not his place to speak now. He just held her hand, determined not to let go, even if the heavens collapsed upon them while she talked.

She took a ragged breath. "I gave up on the possibility of the love of a man long ago. I never really could imagine that a man was capable of anything but being barbaric and brutal. And it was the easiest choice I ever had to make to be wedded to god - because he was the only man I was not utterly terrified of. And here you are possessing unearthly strength, yet when you’re touching me, it’s the touch of a feather. A man capable of gentleness, of caring ... I used to think for a long time, that there's nothing a man can offer that I truly want. It was the hardest thing to admit to myself that ... I was dead wrong."

He took her hand into both of his. "Mia, there's nothing that this man can offer you other than death and suffering and loneliness. My bloodline is cursed! Do you understand what that means? Do you want a fate like my mother had? Do you want a fate for your children like I had? No, Dracula's blood needs to die out with me. And I must not drag anybody with me into this. Especially not you!"

"Why not me?"

"Because I love-" he stopped short, and they stared at each other petrified. He let out a long breath and bowed his head. "You know exactly why."

He looked at her again praying for her to finally understand – and let go. Because he knew he couldn’t. But she just held on, smiling bitterly and leaned close to him. "So then there's still hope for us," she whispered. "Because that's all I need."

"What?" he muttered searching her eyes.

She stroked his cheek. "Your _'you know exactly what'_ ," she said, and he couldn't help the astonished smile that captured his lips. He held her close for a long moment, thinking he’d die then and there if he couldn’t. He then gathered her in his arms and picking her up stood. 

"Enough of this negotiation of who needs what. You're going back to your bed, and I'm bringing you breakfast. Because that is what you truly need: rest and food."

She snuggled into him. "As you wish, my Lord."


	8. Chapter 8

"So I'd ask about how you're managing with keeping this distance of yours you always whine about, but I can see you pretty much threw that out the window," Trevor said watching Alucard washing his hands in the creek. 

"I did not," he replied taking off his shirt. 

He had waited until Mia fell asleep then went out and staked the bodies of the nun-disguised assassins' that had been lying on the ground for a month now. Despite the stiffness of the frozen corpses, it was an incredibly messy job. 

He took off his boots and pants and climbed into the chilly water. "Uh, shit..." he shivered, his breath visible.

Trevor laughed. "The water is _this_ cold, ha?" he asked holding his index finger and thumb up showing a very short distance. 

Alucard looked down at his groins, then immersed underwater a few times. Coming up he splashed some water at his friend who just laughed, but he joined in.

"Jealous as it might make you, Belmont, but cold water has no ill effect on a vampire's family jewels," he said settling into the freezing ripples so that only his head and shoulder was out.

"I should have guessed given my knee in your balls had no ill effect either."

"I actually felt that, but my pain threshold is a bit higher up than yours, puny human."

“Who’s the bragger now?”

"What a meaningful and intelligent conversation!" Sypha said appearing on a big stone sitting cross legged. "Only men can take pleasure in talking about their willies."

"We can talk about your boobies too if you like that better," Trevor said, and Sypha splashed some water at him too.

She turned to Alucard who held his hands over his man parts shyly. "You tell Mia off for almost contracting pneumonia, and you come out here and take this chilly bath?"

He turned one palm up. "Unlike her, I'm completely healthy, and I can tolerate extreme conditions much better than humans do. Besides, this clears the mind," he said immersing his head again for a moment.

"It surely does need clearing from all the distance-keeping you've been doing," Trevor said.

"Well, the quarter of an inch _is_ a distance after all," Sypha shrugged.

"Yeah, you can cut the crap, this was the last time," Alucard stated. He climbed out, water sheeting off his body. Sypha turned away shyly and he wrung his hair out before it froze solid in the cold. He towelled off and put on the new clothes he'd brought outside before his bath.

They went inside.

"The last time?" Trevor asked thoughtfully. "I thought the last time should have been the one before that. Or before that?"

"Look, I know I'm making a mistake by letting her think anything can happen between us. But from now on, I'll keep to my resolve." 

"What is the resolve for at all?" Sypha asked with an bored sigh, watching Alucard throwing his bloody, gory clothes into the furnace. 

"To protect her," he said closing the hot steel door.

"From what?"

"From everything that would threaten her if she was with me,” Alucard said almost as if he had to talk to a child. They’d been over this a thousand times. “There’s the rage of the townsfolk, there are hunters and night creatures ravaging the forest, not to mention the brand new army of the bishop. All those would be a lot less of a threat on her if she could go back to a normal life – which I would not be part of."

Trevor stopped him in the doorway to the corridor. "Isn't it that you just want to protect her from your own fucked up self, Alucard?" 

Alucard remained silent and stared down at his own hands. The hands that had just put four mummified bodies up on poles in the front yard. Yes. _That_ most of all.

* * *

He went up to Mia's room in a bad mood, and his frown deepened seeing her huddling in his chair instead of lying in bed.

"What are you doing up?" he growled.

She didn’t speak. She just kept on staring outside, and he noticed the weird look on her face. He stepped up to her and glanced out the window. _Oh, shit ..._ The new stakes of the Forest could just be seen from where she was sitting. He let out a long breath.

"It had to be done, Mia," he said, not really knowing what else he could say.

"Yes, because burying these bodies along with the staked ones wouldn't have been an option," she said in a distant hurtful voice.

He crossed his arms. "The ground is frozen. It's pretty difficult to even cut into it, let alone dig out twenty graves." He turned to the window moodily. "It was enough to dig out the hole for your almost murderer."

"The Mother Superior," she breathed. "You buried her?"

He turned to her with an irritated frown. "You begged me to."

"I-I do not remember it," she said in a shaky voice.

He bowed his head. "You were feverish. You probably had no idea what you were saying."

"Thank you," she whispered – her overwhelming gratitude just fuelled his disgust with having to do what he did.

"Don't thank me,” he growled. “If it was on me, I'd have quartered her and put the parts to the front of the Forest for everyone to see! That piece of shit of a woman... By far, she didn’t get what she’d have deserved."

She bowed her head, and he saw her tears falling on her lap. He watched her shocked. He didn’t expect her to break down in tears like that over that witch! He slouched and knelt in front of her, but she just turned back to the window propping her elbow on the arm of the chair, her hand in front of her mouth. 

"Mia, she almost killed you," he said in a low voice.

She took a ragged breath and looked at him through her tears. "She was the one who accepted me into the Order when I was fourteen." She sniffled. "You can't imagine how I was then. When the Sisters found me, I'd been wandering in the forest for a week. I had been taken to the slave market to be sold because the Pasha ... you know already why. They told me to count my blessings that I got off with a whipping instead of losing my head ... On the way, one of the guards got distracted, and I ran. I ran as I was. Naked, with my hands bound together and with a chain between my ankles. I ate berries and slept under bushes. I was terrified and freezing and ...” She shook her head wiping her cheek. “The Sisters found me and took me to the nunnery. I couldn't speak for a year. I was like an untamed animal. I fought everybody who came close. But the Mother Superior was not frightened, no. She came to me and read to me and prayed with me every singular night. She gave me a life. And in this sense, she had every right to take it back."

He reached out and cupped her cheek wiping a tear away with his thumb. "That doesn't work that way," he murmured. "Real love doesn't work that way."

She reached up and taking his hand snuggled into his palm. "So how does it work?" she asked in a whisper.

He was close to push himself up to meet her lips with is own and show her just how... But he steeled himself. No. No, he would not. He needed to be strong. For her. But his thoughts wandered and so did his thumb to trace her lower lip, and she closed her eyes in pleasure. She turned her head and planted a kiss in his palm then on his wrist. She took his hand into both of hers and stroked his knuckles and the back of his hand. He was so lost in savouring the tenderness that his brain barely registered her slight frown when she slid his sleeve up. He only realized what she'd noticed when she ran her finger along the burn-mark on his wrist.

His eyes widened, and he snatched his hand away pulling the sleeve of the shirt down.

"You need to go back to your bed now," he said springing to his feet.

She watched him, he could feel her intense gaze on him though he kept his on the floor. His hands curled into fists and suddenly all he could hear was the blood drumming in his ears. She put her feet on the ground and stood. But instead of stepping to the bed, she took both his hands in hers.

"You've seen all my scars. Yet you're ashamed of yours," she said.

"That's different," he said still stubbornly staring down.

"How can scars be different?" 

"Because ... you got those as a slave. From a cruel man,” he glanced at her. “Who by the way I intend to include in my Forest."

She shook her head thoughtfully. "He's probably already dead. He was quite old when I was his slave. And a decade passed since then."

"I can still stake his dead body," he said and ushered her toward the bed.

She obediently sat down and tucked her feet under the duvet. 

"I'm bringing you some dinner but after that, you sleep." He was about to turn when he felt her hand on his and heard her moan of pain. She let him go and touched her shoulder. 

"What happened? What did you do?" he asked alarmed.

"Uh, I just reached out too abruptly, oh..." she felt her shoulder.

He sat opposite her. "Let me see. It might have reopened."

"Mmm, no, it doesn't hurt that way, it's just uncomfortable. The muscles I mean."

He nodded and ran his hand over her arm carefully trying to hold it up. She hissed.

"Yes, like that. My shoulder and under my bladebone."

He grunted absently then standing motioned for her to slide forward so he could sit behind her. Then he gently uncovered her shoulders and back. He slid his fingers down her spine, then around her bladebone and that made her hiss. 

"Your muscles are tightened up because you hold your arm in an awkward, cramped position," Alucard said.

"It's been uncomfortable, but now it got really bad when I reached out."

"Yes, because instead of lying down resting you need to make sudden moves," he said grumpily running his fingers over the tender area. There was a small lump of cramped muscle – it must be terribly uncomfortable, even painful. "I can help it,” he said reluctantly, “but ... it would probably hurt. And I think I've done that just enough times. For a lifetime."

She turned her head to catch his eyes. "Not everything is black and white, Adrian. Sometimes the people who are hurting you actually help you. And sometimes people who are caressing you can hurt you the most." He had to admit, he could relate to that - he pulled the sleeve of his shirt down to cover the scar on his wrist. She gave him a tiny smile. "I trust you."

He let out a short breath. "Then turn around." 

He took his boots off so he could sit cross-legged behind her. And then slowly, gently he massaged out the tightness of her muscles sometimes making her hiss and sometimes making her sigh. When he was finished, he reached under her arm, and helped her lift it. It went much easier.

"Ah, much better,” she said relieved. “You're a miracle worker. But I'm so glad you finished," she added with a smile in her voice.

He chuckled and then suddenly found her in his arms. She relaxed into him, her back against his chest, her temple at his chin, and he instinctively slipped an arm around her stomach. Her chest was covered by her nightgown as she held the garment up in front of her, but her shoulders were bare. He was just about to find an excuse to release her, when she slowly let her hand fall from her chest into her lap. The silk fabric slid down her body and exposed her beautiful breasts. He stared at her nakedness petrified. He knew he needed to look elsewhere. But cursed be his eyes, he couldn't! She was not sick now, he was not looking at her as a doctor on a patient, or a caretaker on a loved one. They sat there as a man and a woman. And she was just so amazingly beautiful!

"Look at my scars," she whispered.

Scars? He didn't even notice! Her tantalizing tiny nipples drew all his attention. He swallowed shutting his eyes. _Oh, god, help me!_

"I'm not scared to show them to you,” she went on, her chest heaving with every breath she took. She turned in his arms making him look into her eyes. "Show me yours." 

He stared at her, his lips parted, and the world around them ceased to exist. There was nothing, but this bed, her gaze, her voice, her fragrance and her beautiful body. He swallowed never taking his eyes off hers, then pulled the shirt over his head exposing his chest. There it was. The terrible scars that had scattered his skin along with his trust so long ago. The scars he thought he’d never ever show to anyone. Now, here they were. He sitting there giving himself over to her judgement. And she studying the map of his skin. She raised a hand and followed a thin burnmark with a fingertip. His pulse spiked and a shiver ran through him. He was completely helpless. 

She ran her eyes up his body to meet his. "How did it happen?"

"Please, Mia," he entreated and was ready to beg her not to ask him on. 

"Why are you so ashamed of somebody hurting you?"

He shook his head unable to say anything. She sat there silent for a moment longer before she touched a line again, making him want to flinch away.

"Whatever this was burned through your clothes," she said in a low voice and met his terrified gaze. "...or you were naked."

He gasped, his fists tightening. “Mia, please!”

"Was it a lover?" she asked. And there was no disgust. No judging. Just the need to know. To share in his pain.

He just went on staring at her fixedly then nodded. "They were brother and sister," he heard himself uttering the words. There was no change on her features. She wasn’t shocked or sickened. And a thousand words ran to his lips at once, needing to come out, needing to be shouted out! He gasped for breath. "They came to me to learn. They used to be slaves of a vampire. They wanted revenge or god, I don't know what they really wanted! Wh-when they came to my room ... I didn’t know ... I didn’t know what would happen! I swear, it just ..." He couldn't say more. He just couldn't.

"That was your first."

He just kept on staring at his trembling fists in his lap.

"But they knew exactly how to touch you. Where to kiss you. And it was amazing, and new, and nothing like the things you’ve experienced till then ... And you let your guards down. And they betrayed you."

He stared at her gaping. "How ... how..."

"In the Pasha’s Harem, some most trusted slaves were trained how to kill an otherwise untouchable enemy by seducing him. They are sold to the enemy as sex-slaves, and when the opportunity offers itself, they kill him or her." She slid her hand to his fist. "You could have no idea what was going on." 

He swallowed hard trying to take in the information. "They ... they were so young. Practically children. They couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen."

She bowed her head. "Slave children are taught very early that their bodies don't belong to them. In the Harem, children from the age of eight or nine took part in the ‘chores’ so that they get used to the sights and sounds. And smells... They reach puberty with a complete skillset of satisfying desires." She stroked his lower arm. "Seducing a young, innocent man on his first night ... it's a piece of cake for such slaves."

"But I was a grown man, Mia, I should have been thinking. I should have been more in control of myself," he whispered mortified.

"How old were you?"

"Seventeen."

"Seventeen," she repeated with a stunned frown. "Wh-when was this?"

"A year ago. Why?"

"A year ago, god ... I-I think I never realized how young you really are."

He ran a hand up his arm gazing away. "Yes, I know I look much older," he muttered. "I aged very fast. I already looked like this when I was fifteen.” He turned his palm up. “This is my final form though, I'm not going to grow older."

She took his hand gently. "You were a child yourself, Adrian. Despite their age, they were more experienced and more aware of what was happening than you could have been."

He sighed avoiding her eyes. "I keep thinking, had I reacted differently, had I refused their ... their _reward_ for my goodness to them, would they have realized that I was different?" He shrugged frustrated. "I was taken so off-guard ... ah, that’s a terrible excuse. I was just another monster abusing them instead of really helping. And I took their lives."

"So you keep their dead bodies in the front yard so they remind you of exactly that."

He looked at her with a slight annoyed frown. "That's ridiculous. I keep them there so people are frightened off."

"You keep them there because you feel guilty. And you want to atone. Not just for them. For your father, for your mother, probably even for me getting hurt. Whereas you had no power over that."

"Mia. You tried to protect me, that dagger was intended for me."

"But it was my decision to take it for you,” she said squeezing his hand. “As it was your father's decision to use you to commit suicide, and it was the decision of a cruel priest to stake a good woman that your mother was. You cannot take responsibility for all the decisions people make around you. It's time to let go of the past. It's time to let go of the stakes outside. Of your terror of getting hurt again. Of all the guilt you're carrying around. Of the ghosts of your friends up here," she lightly tapped on his temple. "And start to live.” She took his face between her palms with a tearful smile. “You could do so much good with your powers, with your knowledge, with the knowledge in the Belmont Hold. You could light a candle in the all-consuming darkness we live in. You just need to do the right thing."

He pulled her in and hugged her tightly. "You know," he muttered, "this was exactly what my mother tried to get my father to do. And look what have become of them," his voice broke.

She pulled away to look at him still holding him close and stroked his hair. "Do you know why I keep calling you Adrian and not Alucard?

“Yes, to annoy me,” he said with a slight pout.

She smiled lovingly. “No. To make you understand, you're not bound by destiny the way you think you are."

His eyes filled, and he looked at her tormented. "What if I lose you too? What if you get hurt because of me?"

"What if I lose you?" she asked back. "Stop living in the dreadful possibilities. Live in the here and now."

And here and now, her arms were around him, her gaze reflected his own longing and before he knew, he was lost in kissing her lips. His arms tightened around her, fearing if he didn’t hold her tight enough, she'd disappear like a mirage. The kiss deepened fuelled by a passion repressed for too long, and by desperation that there would be no tomorrow. 

He pulled her across his lap in one motion, not breaking away from her mouth even for a second. They both gasped feeling the jolt of electricity the direct contact of skin to skin was. Her beautiful nipples rubbed against his chest as he kissed her neck. He tightened the embrace then turned them around to lay her on the bed beneath him, drawing a muffled shriek out of her. It crossed his mind to check if she was alright but she held him so firmly that the thought was lost along with any other ones when she wrapped her legs around his waist. He broke away from her mouth and trailed her jaw to her ear and neck with kisses. She moaned arching her back. 

"Mia..." he breathed against her skin. "Tell me to stop." She dug her fingers into his hair as he reached her breasts. "Tell me, and I stop." 

She moaned when he scraped the tip of her nipple with his teeth. "Ah, god! Stop if you want to kill me!"

He gave her another deep kiss on the mouth kneading her breast in his palm, almost on the verge of being violent. But she didn't seem to mind, she just held him to her moaning and whimpering under the caresses – he knew she wanted this as much as he did! And it was frightening…

He broke away and stared down at her panting. She opened her eyes and met his gaze just as out of breath. His long hair blocked everything out of their vision and there was nothing just the feel of their bodies against each other with only the fabric of his pants between them. She gasped and he felt her fingernails in the skin of his upper arms. “Kiss me!" she begged, frightened and desperate.

He had no choice but to obey. There wasn't any other option his tortured mind could imagine but being lost in her arms forever. He knew, that exploring any other possibilities would send him over the edge of insanity. This was _his_ life. _His_ fate. _His_ girl. And this time, he had a chance to choose his own destiny. He reached down and sent his hand up her bare thigh pushing the fabric of the nightgown up to her hip, all the while kissing her sweet mouth. He felt her hand tracing the muscles of his back and sometimes held on to his blade bone, sometimes to his hips digging her fingernails into his skin in pleasure. He didn't know how he sensed what she needed, or how she needed it. He reached between the two of them and found her center of pleasure. She writhed sensually under him, his curious finger touching her hot wet flesh, and she gave him a breathless moan as he started drawing tiny circles there. He let her mouth go and let her give herself over to his caresses. It was the most exquisite pleasure to watch her when ecstasy finally played over her features. Her hand clutched on his and he slid a finger inside of her making her arch her back. Oh, god, how tight she was! In a moment, he’d feel her surround him as tightly as she now did his finger. She drew him to her and kissed his lips.

Not the first time, he thought. This couldn't have been their first time together. They've done this countless of times before through countless of lives, countless of ages, always seeking each other out. It couldn't have been differently. He barely had any idea of the female body - but he knew _her_ body precisely and intimately. Did she feel the same way? Or was it only his disturbed mind that was playing tricks on him? Her hand on his groins gave him his answer. She opened his pants and stroked his length with the deftness of a wife! He helplessly pushed into her fist, but she opened her hand, and he saw the cheeky smile on her lips. He moaned on the very edge... 

"Ah, Mia..." 

"It's alright." She closed her hand around him again and stroked him.

"Oh, god, please, stop or I-" He pulled away from her sitting back on his heels, trying hard to get a grip.

She smiled at him and knelt opposite him removing her nightgown that had crumpled around her waist. "It is alright, don't feel embarrassed." She gave a short kiss on his lips. "Lasting longer comes with practice."

He cleared his throat and swallowed. "You think so?"

She nodded. "We waited for a long time to get here and we both wanted it too much." She took him into her arms snuggling into his embrace. "It's alright to give yourself over to pleasure," she whispered and started kissing his chest. "After some rest” she mumbled “we can start it again." She reached his nipples and he moaned letting her go and put his hands flat on the bed behind him. He leant backwards as she trailed his scar with kisses, then he felt her tongue in his navel - and her fingers around him again. Oh, sweet lord...

After a few strokes of her hand, his eyes snapped wide open feeling her tongue run up his length. He whimpered, when her lips closed around him and she took him into her hot wet mouth. His head turned up, his eyes were shut and his throat was dry from his moans as he gave himself over to her kisses. His body responded to what she wanted before he had a chance to worry about asking her if she wanted it. 

He found himself on his back on the bed. He vaguely guessed could he have lost consciousness for a few moments? He opened his eyes a crack still panting and when her face swam into focus he crushed her into an embrace and kissed her as deep as he could, seeking out his own taste on her tongue.

When he let her go, her beaming smile met his jaded gaze, and she swept the mussed up hair out of his face. "I knew you'd love this," she murmured.

He stared at her amazed. "How?"

She giggled softly. "I don't know. How do you know what I love?" She cupped his cheek. "You think I ever felt the way you just made me?" She shook her head, her eyes filling but a beautiful smile capturing her lips. "I had no idea that I could feel that way. I had no idea that I could want a man the way I want you now. Every inch of your body ..." 

He smiled back at her in wonder. She then laughed an amazing tinkling laugh and playfully planted tiny kisses on his nose and cheek, before snuggling into him, laying her head on his chest. His eyes closed holding her tightly. Was this a dream? Consciousness started to slip away and he turned his head running a hand up her back. No, he would not fall asleep. This couldn’t end. Couldn’t.

"So tell me, Mr. Tepes,” he heard her slurred speech against his skin. “With all things considered, is this happiness thing so unsufferably terrible that it was worth it to hide from it behind two dozen staked corpses?" 

He grunted softly, kissing her hair. "Mr. Tepes couldn't care less about the two dozen corpses. But if his girl insists so much, he'll be a nice little puppy dog and bury them all. For her."

"Hmm, don't make it sound like I'm treating you like a puppy dog. I just like a flowerbed better than what you currently have in the garden."

He chuckled. "You barely just moved in, and you redecorate? What was I expecting from a shrew?"

Her face appeared above him. “Don’t call me that,” she said sulking.

“Or?” he asked wiping a stray strand of hair out of her face.

“Or I tickle you until you obey!”

He laughed, “I’m not ticklish.”

“I bet you are,” she said and he was shocked when she managed to touch him with such a light touch on his side that it really made him cringe and laugh.

“Hey!” 

“I told you!”

He took her by the wrist and rolled her to her back giving her a breathless kiss. When he released her, she looked at him jaded and he stroked her cheek. She was exhausted.

"You should rest,” he murmured. “The exercises we've been doing would not be approved by any doctor in your condition."

"I'm fine, Doctor Tepes. In fact, better than fine. Just a little tired." He gave her a short kiss and lying next to her, drew her close. She snuggled into him. "You did a miraculous job with healing me from that wound. I could never thank you enough. If only all the world saw how wonderful you are..." She planted a kiss on his chest and his throat closed feeling her devotion. Did he really deserve this?

He went on stroking her hair as her breathing evened out. Tears ran to his eyes. "To hell with the world. All I care about is you." He took a ragged breath and his eyes closed. _Let this be real, please_ , he thought before he stopped trying to fight off sleep.

* * *

Alucard woke to the sensation of being cold and he blinked dumbly not understanding why his pants could be pulled down to his thighs, or why the light was still on - or why he felt a _hand_ on his most sensitive parts. He looked down at himself then to his side and it all came back. He relaxed into the pillows looking at the sleeping Mia beside him. It was the most intimate sensation he’d ever experienced: a sleeping girl's hand around his manhood. 

It was real. It was not only real, it was so casual, as if they’d been sleeping like that, she naked and he with his pants pulled down – he chuckled, god it was uncomfortable. He carefully uncurled her fingers and took her hand off. Mumbling she turned to her side, she didn't wake. He smiled watching her then took his pants off. He lay back next to her propping his chin up, to go on watching her sleep.

Was this the way it would always be? Was this how being together with somebody was like? So natural. Without fear and guilt. He sighed. He probably didn't deserve this, but he couldn't resist feeling happy. It had been such a long time since he did and he grew so tired of carrying the weight of the past. He stroked her hair. All he had to do was obey her and give them a chance.

He couldn’t resist and kissed her lips lightly sliding a hand to her waist. It didn't take long for her to respond with a soft moan. She turned into him and he wordlessly lay between her legs. He let her mouth go and took her hand into his. She smiled at him a bit tired, but beaming with joy.

“Mia, do you really want this?” He cupped her cheek. “Do you really want to belong to a wretched mockery of Dracula? Just say a word, if you don’t, I will not hold a grudge. But I need you to be sure about this.”

Her eyes filled and she took his hand on her face. “I want to belong to Adrian Tepes,” she whispered. “Does he want me the same as I crave after him?”

“More than you’ll ever know,” he moaned and kissed her lips letting his tears roll down his cheeks.

She wrapped her arms and legs around him and he sucked in a breath feeling her so close to his manhood coming to life again. He didn’t know how he knew he had to, but he reached between the two of them – one of her legs slid down his thigh – and he sought out her wetness deep within her. He slid a finger inside of her and she arched her back.

“Please!” She dug her nails in the skin of his back. “Please...”

“I know,” he murmured and taking his hand away, he kissed her. Yes, he knew what she needed because he needed it as urgingly as she did. But he needed her to be prepared. She grasped his hair on the back of his head in her fists with a moan and when she wrapped her legs around his waist again, he gasped feeling himself just where they both wanted him to be. He kissed her lips again, mimicking with his tongue what their bodies were about to do teasing her and himself with the delay. 

He broke away and she looked at him with a breathless smile, “Ah, you can be mean!”

“I’m a vampire, remember? Have you ever heard about a nice vampire?” he asked adjusting his position against her, finding that this time, he was much more capable of self-control than before.

She laughed and writhed under him. “Ahh, I’ll make you one.” She gasped. “If I survive!”

He smiled and was about to kiss her when he suddenly heard. He frowned turning to the window. It wasn't loud, but in the dead silence of the forest and the Castle, he could hear even a mouse.

She stared at him confused. "What's wrong?"

He frowned listening. “I don’t know,” he whispered. Voices. He could make them out now. Human voices. Distant but getting near. He sat up alarmed.

“What is it? You’re scaring me to death!” she said as he jumped out of bed and went over to the window to look out.

"Oh, god..." he breathed seeing torchlight on the path leading up the Castle. Not just a few. Dozens. 

He turned back to her. She was kneeling there in their bed, barren and innocent like a child - and terrified. A dagger sneaked up his chest, slowly cutting open his heart: was _this_ how it always would be? A moment of happiness followed by an endless flood of terror?

He stepped to the bed and gave her her nightgown. "Put it on." He was surprised that his voice betrayed nothing of his emotions.

"Wh-Why, what is happening?"

He put on his clothes and sat down to pull on his boots. She got out of bed and hurried to the window too.

"What is that light?"

Alucard stepped next to her and gave her the nightgown again.

"Torches, Mia. Now, put this on, don’t make me ask again."

"Wha-" she stared at him wide-eyed.

"They are not here for a friendly chit-chat, so please," he said and she obeyed – her hands trembling.

He buckled his sword around his waist then taking her hand, he pulled her after him.

"What are we going to do?" she asked, her fingers cramping on his hand.

" _We_ are not doing anything. _I_ will. I'll go and find out what they want."

"Adrian, please, don’t! Don’t face them alone, I'm not letting you go out to them alone."

He snorted. "You're in no position to forbid me anything."

"I could talk to them. It doesn't have to end in blood! Adrian!" she stopped grabbing his arm, and he glared at her for wasting time. "Please! They are not bad people, they just cannot understand. We just need to explain to them that you did nothing wrong! I can explain to them, they know me, they'll believe me, I'm begging you."

He was hit by her plea. She really thought she could help. That these people would take her word that the son of Dracula could be a _good_ man. All his irritation dissipated. He let out a long breath and took both her hands into his. "They will not listen. They believe you're the whore of the new Dracula. Look at us. Who'd believe otherwise?" he cupped her cheek seeing her tears. "Let me deal with it my way. I promise I won't hurt anybody if it’s not in self-defense.” He shrugged slightly. “I never actually did."

"I know," she said and snuggled into him. "I'm not worried about them."

"You shouldn't worry about me either," he murmured into her hair and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"Oh, yes, I should. Because it's either they remain standing, or you, but then you'd die a little too." She gazed at him begging. "Because I know you're wounded each time you need to hurt someone."

He squeezed his embrace. "Mia..."

There was a loud knock on the gate and it made them pull away. They wasted a lot of time - in a moment, the Castle could be in flames, if that was the intent of the mob.

"Come on," Alucard commanded and took her to his father's study.

She looked around scared in the dark room, and he stood in front of the mirror still lying scattered in pieces on the floor. He clapped and the pieces rose and floated mid-air for a few seconds before forging into one whole again. Mia gasped taking a small step back. 

“Don’t be scared,” Alucard said. “This is a distance mirror. You can cross over to faraway lands through it.”

He drew the red runes with his claws swiftly and a cottage appeared. The reflection changed to a moonlit bedroom and he turned to Mia who was standing there gaping at the magic.

"This is our house in Opatija. The place I told you about earlier. Whoever is asking, just tell them ...” He squeezed her hand. “Tell them you belong to me, and so the house belongs to you." 

"Please, come with me," she pleaded grasping the fabric of his shirt on his chest.

"If I can, I'll come for you. I promise, I will." He held her close. "But I need you to be safe." He leaned to her mouth and gave her a kiss that betrayed his utter desperation. Here they were looking forward to a night of love and...

There was a loud knock on the gate again, and they broke away.

"Are you at home Adrian Tepes?" he heard, though he guessed Mia could not make out the words - only the anger.

"Quick," he said and helped her through the mirror. He held on to her hand and seeing her nun ring sparkle against the night he ran his thumb over it. "One day, I'll give you one that binds you to me. If you want it too."

Her tears rolled down her cheeks, and he kissed her hand then let her go. She stepped back hugging herself, looking around and the mirror glimmered - closing the portal on her. Alucard watched her breaking down sobbing for a moment longer, then grasped the hilt of his sword and marched out of the study.

* * *

The gates opened and he went out looking over the small army in his front yard. Some wearing the uniforms of the Bishop, some were just townspeople with pitchforks. A middle-aged man with a straight posture in a richly embroidered cloak stepped forward. 

"Are you Count Adrian Tepes, who calls himself Alucard of Wallachia?" 

Alucard lazily walked down the stairs to stand a step from him in the light of the torches. "Who is asking?" 

"My name is Teodosius. I am the Bishop of Brașov." He motioned with his hand theatrically bowing slightly. "Do you know why these men are here, son of Vlad Dracula Tepes?" 

"I assume not for an afternoon tea. Judging by the pitchforks and torches that is."

"It is indeed not tea time, Mr. Tepes."

"It depends on what time you get up, Bishop Teodosius," Alucard said smiling - making sure his fangs could clearly be seen.

The crowd murmured and retreated a step back.

"What can I do for you?" Alucard asked looking back over the Bishop.

"Adrian Tepes," the man called on the loud steady voice of a preacher - or a judge, "you are accused by the Holy Roman Catholic Church of murder, torture, desecration of dead bodies, engaging in the sinful practice of alchemy and of kidnapping and enslaving a young nun. We are here in the name of the Church to arrest you and bring you to justice. Do you deny the charges against you?"

Alucard watched the man unmoving. "Would it make a difference if I did?"

The crowd murmured again shocked of his defiance in the shade of the Forest of the Dead.

Teodosius clutched his hands in front of his chest. "Then your stray soul is in the hands of the Lord. I suggest you say your last prayers."

Alucard stepped up against the clergy man. "Pray to _your_ God, you say? To the god in whose name you burned my mother on the stakes? I'd sooner say hello to my father in hell. You come here to my home accusing me? Why don't you accuse those before you? Those who tried to kill me, steal from me or burn my house down!"

"So you claim you acted in self-defense? What about using alchemy to let loose hundreds of thousands of demons from hell?"

"That was the work of my father. Not me."

The man stared into his eyes with a slight smile. "Same difference."

Alucard remained silent. He simply drew his sword.

Teodosius took two steps back raising his hands, but Alucard could see no trace of fright on his features. "See, my faithful flock? It would have been naivete to expect repentance from a father-killer, the son of a wicked witch!" 

The mob cheered as one mass of obtuse hatred and Alucard squeezed the hilt of his sword. _Forgive me, Mia!_

"Capture him!" Teodosius shouted, and the crowd closed in on Alucard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I really appreciate all the kudos and feedback! <3  
> One note about the age of Alucard and the Sumi and Taka duo: one trivia site says he's around 18, also Sypha is saying "You're just an angry teenager in an adult's body." He physically cannot be more than 19 when Lisa dies, but I'm guessing Lisa and Vlad needed some warm-up before getting down to business, so I went with 17 to be on a bit more realistic footing. I'm guessing he might be so easily influenced by Sumi and Taka because of his young age as well (and because probably he was never really socialized to other kids lol).   
> Their age is another good question. For what it's worth, I found it extremely disturbing that after establishing them as children/early teens (they not only act like that, Alucard actually says "You greedy children...") they end up in his bed. There is dark (which I have no problem with given I'm watching Castlevania, go figure) - and there is "wtf am I watching?" So sort of, here you got an explanation sorta of what might have been going on there, but nothing much can make me a fan of THAT turn of events of the canon... :(


	9. Chapter 9

Alucard cut the head off of a mercenary running toward him with an elegant move. The head rolled off like the ball of a small child before the body collapsed. He’d been fighting them for a while now, and it seemed it had no end!

“Now!” the bishop shouted, and Alucard felt a sharp burning pain piercing his back between his bladebone and spine.

His body became petrified, and his sword fell out of his hand. He realized he was shot in the back with an arrow. _Stupid_ , he thought, he should have been prepared for it. He groaned in pain – it was somehow more painful than the sword cuts he’d received that night, but he had no time to ponder the difference.

Two man grabbed his arms, and a third one hit him behind his knees with the handle of a pitchfork. His legs went out from under him, and he fell to his knees with a grunt.

Bishop Teodosius stepped up to him. “Well, well. The son of the great Dracula is by far not as strong as his father.”

Alucard stared at him gasping. That damn arrow. If he could just pull it out!

Teodosius towered above him. “Take us to the Belmont Hold, vampire. And I promise you’ll have a merciful death.”

“No,” Alucard said. The bishop grabbed his hair from behind and stared into his eyes.

“Then we’ll find our way in. Your little slut will readily help!” He leaned closer. “And when she finished her job, I’ll personally reward her the way she deserves.” Alucard stared at him with blazing eyes but rather bit his tongue than say a word. The bishop let him go and turned to the mob. “Go in and find that whore!”

Alucard’s eyes glowed in red, and his tormentors were shocked to stand there suddenly empty handed.

“Looking for me?” he asked from behind them and hit them with fireballs. He watched as they ran around blindly screaming in pain, as the flames consumed their bodies. Finally free, he pulled out the arrow from his back. It hurt like a son-of-a…

Teodosius turned from the gates, and Alucard could tell, he was not prepared for the turn of events. He moved his finger, and his sword flew to fight the mercenaries around the bishop, while he fought the remaining few people with his bare hands and some magic.

When he was finished, he appeared in front of Teodosius, his sword in his hand, at the throat of the preacher man. His associates dead around them.

“Who sent you?” Alucard hissed.

Teodosius shook his head. “You cannot fight him. You'll lose if you try!”

“Who sent you?” Alucard asked again, his sword cutting the skin of the man’s neck.

“If I tell you, he’ll kill me.”

“If you don’t speak, I’m killing you right now.”

“No! You have no idea who you are up against. He has an army! More than an army. It’s like an entity of its own! It feeds on human bodies and grows each time it kills.”

“It’s a forger then,” Alucard translated surprised.

“He’s a master of his trade, and he’s invincible!”

“No human is invincible, and I always found it pretentious to call those petty little necromancers forge _masters_.” He took his sword off the man’s throat and took a step back, making the bishop stare at him paralyzed. “I’m not taking unnecessary victims, Bishop Teodosius. I am not my father.”

“You’re crazy,” the man breathed.

“That, on the other hand, is an accurate perception,” Alucard said sheeting his sword. “Tell me what he wants from the Belmont Hold.”

The bishop shook his head. “I do not know. I swear. All I know is-” But his word got stuck in his throat when an arrow pierced right through his neck, pinning him to the gate.

Alucard gasped turning, and he just saw movement among the trees. He ran into the forest, but the sharpshooter was already gone. He stared at the dark path ahead. Damn…

Exhaustion and bloodloss caught up on him when he got to the clearing again. He staggered a step forward looking out over the countless dead bodies. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and when he took his hand away, he saw blood there too. He was not sure if it was his or someone else’s, and his heart sank. He promised Mia, and yet …

He walked amongst the dead looking into their faces. They had been scared of him, he knew, he could see it in their wide eyes and shaking swords, but they were so fanaticized that they didn’t run. Not after the first ten fell, not after twenty.

Why? Why did it always have to come down to _this_? Him becoming a monster and them lying in their cold blood. _Enough!_ he wanted to shout. _Enough of this!_ He wanted to run – to run out of the universe, run out of his worthless life, his paralysing fate, but he just fell to his knees, his strength leaving him. His gory sword dropped, and he looked down at himself. His side was bleeding, his stomach, his chest, his neck, his cheek... He took a few deep gasps of breath. _Everything_ hurt!

“What have I done?” he heard his own distant whisper.

“You did what you had to do,” a voice spoke on a calm murmur he knew all too well, and a shadow towered above him against the night.

He raised his head breathing through his mouth, blood was drumming in his ears, blood was dripping down his chin soaking his torn, gory shirt.

“Father,” he whispered.

Because there he was, standing tall and dark and proud as always. Dracula. The full moon shining in his eyes.

“Don’t be afraid,” Dracula soothed. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

Alucard stared at him for a few more racing heartbeats and then sticking his sword into the deep-red mud around him, he held on to the hilt and staggered to his feet with a groan.

“Why are you here?” he asked face to face with his father.

“To talk, of course.”

“Of course,” Alucard repeated incredulously.

“Isn’t that what you wished for? When you were reading my journals. To talk. Not like father and son, but like one Dracula to the other.”

Alucard remained silent, and his father turned and started to walk towards the gates. Alucard took a relieving breath and straightened feeling most of his wounds closing or already closed. Though his back still was in burning pain. He ignored it and tried to ignore the vision too.

“It’s not real. You’re just imagining it,” he told himself.

“If it’s easier for you to accept,” Dracula said with a chuckle turning back to him.

Alucard frowned. “Don’t try to make me believe you’re back from the dead. No one has that kind of a power.” He walked up to his father and looked at him calmly. “You’re only my guilt taking a form that the human half of my mind can comprehend. Given what I’ve just done, it’s no surprise,” he said turning to the field of dead. He bowed his head, shutting his eyes.

“Perhaps. Perhaps not,” Dracula said thoughtfully. “Perhaps, I’m here to help you, give you some guidance that you so desperately need. To be your father from beyond the grave. The way your mother would want me to.”

Alucard snapped his head back to his father. “You’d have no knowledge of what she’d want. You didn’t when you still lived, and you _cannot_ have now, that you’re dead.”

“Why?” Dracula asked with a small chuckle.

“Why. There’s no way to communicate between heaven and hell. That’s why. And I’m quite certain you didn’t end up in the same place after you died!” He turned to go. Enough of this psychosis! Ah, if only his back didn’t hurt so much …

“Why are you so sure of that, Alucard?”

He stopped short and looked back at his father with blazing eyes. “Which one should I consider, father? An angelic woman going to hell or the closest kin to the devil going to heaven. Even the thought is ridiculous. And insulting!”

His father stepped up to him. “The world beyond death belongs to those who created it. Their rules apply. Lisa was excommunicated. And burned as a witch. In their eyes,” he motioned to the field, “she was no better than I was.”

Alucard gaped at him. It was simply unbelievable to think that his mother would end up ... He had to sit down. He collapsed on the stairs looking sightlessly ahead. Shortly, he sensed his father’s presence sitting next to him.

“So you say, you’re really here,” he started tentatively.

“Though you still don’t fully believe it,” Dracula said, and when Alucard looked at him he went on. “I’m not here in the physical plain. I hope that reassures you.”

Alucard just shook his head. “Not one bit.” He wiped the blood off his chin with the sleeve of his shirt and sat in silence for a few minutes. It seemed his father didn’t mind. When he felt up to it, he looked at his dad. “What do you wish to talk about?”

Dracula steepled his claws. “Well, my boy. I do not think there’s a gentle way to say this. I’m worried about you. I’m worried about you a lot.” Alucard tilted his head confused, and he motioned to the Forest of the Dead.

“Oh?” Alucard looked at him with a sceptical raise of his brows. “I thought you’d be proud, father,” he said with a bitter chuckle in his voice.

“I never wanted you to become me, Alucard. I wanted you to be your own man. As your mother did.”

“As if I had a chance to do that.”

“You have the chance to do whatever you want. You’re not bound by destiny to do anything. You see, it’s the greatest misconception of the human mind. That fate is written in great books, and you don’t have a choice or a free will. That you’re predestined.”

Alucard snorted. “Yes. And had I chosen not to kill you, now, most of humanity would be dead.”

“Perhaps.”

“So, did I have a choice?!”

“Of course, you did. The only thing that makes you think otherwise is because you think those deaths would have been your responsibility if you stood aside. But it was _my_ choice to start the war, those deaths should have been on my conscience. Not yours.”

Alucard stared at his hands in his lap, remembering something he’d read long ago as a child. “Amongst murderers an accomplice is the mute.”

“You based your entire way of looking at the world solely based on that lie. And you chose the lesser of two evils. You suffering of terrible guilt was a lesser evil in your eyes than the death of strangers.”

“You-You were just one life... I had no choice but to choose!” Alucard stammered and suddenly felt very close to breaking down sobbing.

“You believe that arithmetic should decide in a matter of ethics, hmm... Interesting. Might worth considering if all life was equally important.”

“That is the most elitist idea to think that _some_ are better than others.”

“Is it? So, you consider those who were cheering at your mother’s staking worth as much as she was? Would you lay down your life for the bishop that’d stoop so low to filth your love with his touch to punish her for loving you? One life for one life. If you really thought that way, Alucard, these people here would be cheering over your dead body.”

Alucard swallowed. “Some humans are a piece of shit, yes. But not _all_. Some of them are worth to die for.”

“You mean your love is.”

“Yes, Mia. And my friends.”

“Your friends.” Dracula snorted. “You mean the girl who didn’t even consider the option of choosing you over the hunter, just because you’re a vampire. And so evil. No, she chose the man who was barely literate and a drunk.”

“I never wanted Sypha to choose me over Trevor. They had something, some sort of a rapport from the beginning. I was not holding out hope for anything, I-”

“Right. Do I really need to be in your head to know you’re talking gobbledegook?”

Alucard bowed his head feeling his cheeks turning red. He never talked about having had secret feelings for Sypha to anyone. He felt mortified for having to with no other than his dead father!

Dracula went on. “Or the Belmont boy who pinned you to this place to guard it – which should have been his job. And they walked away hand in hand into the sunset. Leaving you here, all alone. With your ghosts. Yes, they definitely worth to die for.”

“Despite these pitiful old scars that you can tear open with a clinical precision, they’re not bad people for living their lives. I’m trying to do the same.”

“Strange, because to me it seems you’re living _mine_ ,” Dracula said looking out over the countless dead bodies surrounding them. Alucard bowed his head as he went on. “Do you know how _my_ Forest of the Dead started, Alucard? Some people cheated me. And I staked them to discourage others from doing the same. But more came, and the more stakes were standing, the more hatred they felt – and the more hatred I felt.”

“One bad deed breeds another,” Alucard whispered remembering Mia’s words.

“This is not you,” his father said softly. “You simply lost your way because you trusted, and your trust was abused. And you’re angry.”

“I’m not!”

“Yes, you are! Look around. Is this not the handiwork of an angry man? You’re angry at me for making you kill me. Except that I never wanted you to relieve me of the burden of life. You took that up on yourself.”

Alucard blinked at him disbelievingly. “Really? So then what was the plan, if not suicide? What did you want by killing off humans? Wouldn’t that have meant a slow starvation to death? What did you want if not _that_?”

Dracula sighed propping his lower arms on his knees. “What did I want? I wanted silence. Without humans. Without vampires. I just wanted peace after your mother died.”

“So, you did want to go after her, you did want to die...” Alucard said, his heart sinking deeper he ever thought it possible.

Dracula looked into his eyes with regret. “But not by putting the horrible burden of being a father-killer on you.”

“Oh, how considerate of you! And what of me? What would have happened to me if your great plan of the great world-wide-silence actually got pulled off? Would I have gotten what I actually did? Trapped in eternal loneliness in an empty world? Tell me, father.”

“I wasn’t thinking about any of that. I just wanted silence, that is all.”

“Well, I cannot say I’m that surprised. When was the last time you weren’t thinking about yourself?” He stood and started to go up the stairs.

“What about you?” Dracula said keeping his gaze at the clearing.

“What about me?”

Dracula turned his head to him. “You say you’re putting the happiness of others before yours, yet here you are, having killed thirty men, ready to go to your girl and live happily ever after. What of her? What of her happiness?”

“Stop messing with my mind.”

“I’m just saying what you already knew.” Dracula got up and stepped to him. “When your mother started coming to me – and there was nothing at all between the two of us for a long time – people started avoiding her, calling her a lunatic. Then they started gossiping about us, calling her a slut. And finally, she became an outcast when they started calling her a witch. By which name do the villagers call your girl currently?”

“So what do you say I should do, father?” Alucard asked desperate. “Go back to sleep under Gresit? Is that what life has for me? Should I just give up on her, give up on everything? What about the Hold? What about the Castle? Where’s my so-called choice?”

“Oh, you do have a choice, as always. You can go to her. You can try to live a life. Have children. But it comes with a price, and you’re not supposed to walk into it with your eyes wide shut. As you are right now.”

Alucard let out a long breath. “Please. I’ve been doing nothing but thinking about this the last month, father.”

“Yes. From the point of view of what might happen if the two of you are together in your _current_ situation.” At his son’s confused frown, he went on. “You asked me why I’m here. I’m not here only to talk. I’m here to warn you.”

“Warn me,” Alucard snorted. “Look around. You’re somewhat late with that.”

“These are not the last people trying to get into the Castle and the Hold. And their numbers will just grow with every attempt they make. How many can you fight alone?”

Alucard shrugged. “I did manage quite well, I believe.”

“Now. But would you manage against an army of night creatures?”

“So what do you want me to do? Say it already.”

“To be prepared for what’s to come!”

“How could I know what’s to come, for god’s sake? It’s probably one of your little lapdogs that’s wracking havoc in Wallachia! And as you so eloquently put it, I’m pinned right here to the Castle, so I cannot just walk off and investigate what’s going on in the world.”

Dracula let out an impatient breath. “But if you weren’t so hell-bent on finishing our conversation to finally get into bed with your girl, you could stop for a moment and _think_!”

Alucard crossed his arms looking away sulking. Yes, he wanted to finish this bizarre conversation alright. And desperately so.

Dracula went on in a lower voice. “Remember what she told you about what the Church wants?”

Alucard shrugged. “To get instruments of occult magic. To contact the demons of hell.”

“Why would anyone want to do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the same reason you did. To use them to wage war.”

“Sure, son. Because there isn’t enough chaos and war in Wallachia since I let the demon armies loose. I said _think_ , not shoot conjecture all around.”

Alucard could tell his father’s patience was hanging on a thread. His mother was always the better teacher. His dad's features were carved in stone and it filled him with a strange kind of nostalgia. Could you actually miss your dead father’s shouting?

Think … He took a few paces around stepping over a dead body. “To contact the demons of hell. A forger can do that anyways. No, they want … What-” He looked at his father taken aback. “What if they want to contact you?”

Dracula slouched. “Would I be here over a simple friendly chat over a cup of tea, Alucard?”

“They want to revive you,” Alucard breathed finally getting it. He stared out over the dark forest. His greatest fear. His worst nightmare. His father returning. And he would need to find a way to kill him again! He turned to his father searching his eyes in desperation. Was he real? Or was this only his mind playing a trick? Was he _real_?!

But Dracula remained silent, and Alucard felt the weight of the world on his shoulders again. Just as he did when he still had the terrible task before him. “Oh, my god,” he whispered collapsing on the stairs again.

Dracula sat next to him again. “Look, son. What happens, happens.”

“But-”

“All I want is to cause the least pain for you. And if you start a happily married life just now, there is a risk that she’d not survive the coming months. I know you can protect yourself, I taught you well. But what if you need to protect your wife? What if you need to protect your child? From armies of demons.”

Alucard breathed slowly. Protect his wife. His child … Thirty men. Not demons. Just men. What would have happened if Mia had been here? What if a _child_ had been here?

“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, son. But I found no other way to protect you.” He stood. “I need to go now.”

Alucard raised his head and looked at him. “Father. Are you really here? I _need_ to know,” he begged. His life was depending on it.

“That is for you to decide,” Dracula said softly. He reached out as if he wanted to touch him but then stopped short. “Take care, son.” He then shimmered into nothingness.

* * *

Alucard staggered up the stairs. A dark thought forming in his head. A thought that had always been there, but he somehow ignored it. There it was now. Out in the light. The _truth_ of his existence. Emerging. Coming to light under his father’s words. Something he tried to hide from. Something he tried to hide in the depths of his mind. The truth that he was not born to _live_. That only hope cheated him into _wanting_ to live. To at least taste what it was like. But each time he did, it would end in a catastrophe. No. He was born to lie in a coffin until he was needed to fight the darkness – and then lie back and sleep. In an eternal cycle of pain. Everything else was an illusion.

He entered his father’s study. The mirror was still showing Mia crouching on the bed, her cheeks wet. She was crying after him. He pressed his palm against the cool surface and bowed his head. This was his illusion. This mindless craving after her. He took a few ragged breaths, and let his tears run down his cheeks. He let himself feel that overwhelming need for her one last time and remembered what it was like to feel her skin under his fingertips, what it was like to hold her, to bury his face in her hair, to kiss her exquisite lips … What it was like to live! Live with her, for her, through her. He let the craving after her grip his whole body with an elemental force making his fists clutch.

“Oh, god, forgive me!” he moaned taking his hand off the mirror. It shattered into pieces and landed lifelessly on the floor.

He fell to his knees staring fixedly on the glimmering shards. It was difficult to breathe. That weight on his shoulders, it now squeezed his chest making him slouch.

“Personally, I won’t miss her,” he heard Trevor from the doorway. “It was so rude that she told you to just discard your friends in your head.” He walked up to where Alucard was kneeling, fighting for another breath. “I mean, what does she know? We’d been the ones keeping you sane this whole year, not her. And she’d just simply wish us away? Ungrateful.” He squatted to him. “Just as you are. Bleeding out on us like that.”

Alucard frowned confused. Was he really bleeding? Trevor reached out and touched his back – he called out in excruciating pain! That arrow! Was it still in his back? No, he was sure he pulled it out. He gasped. It was poisoned! God, it was poisoned, and the wound didn’t close as it should!

“All you want is to run away,” Sypha said sitting opposite him cross-legged. “Even with this.”

With what? He wanted to ask, but his thoughts were so jumbled. “Will you help me?” he asked in a thin voice – or did he ask? If he did, did he really expect help from friends he just imagined?

“We’ll help you,” Trevor said taking his hand, while Sypha put her palm gently to Alucard’s eyes to make him close them.

“Sypha,” he started suddenly getting scared. Were _they_ real too?! What did they want?

“Hush, just trust us,” Sypha soothed, and Alucard felt her arm around him.

“Sleep now…” Trevor said.

He groaned feeling the pain lifting, and he fell forward into his friends’ arms. It was so comforting, he thought, as consciousness rapidly slipped away. And he knew no more.

* * *

Alucard woke to a gentle breeze bringing a salty taste. It was so familiar - yet so wrong. That taste belonged to the sea. It reminded him of summer and of his childhood. He sighed. He felt a soft bed under his stomach and a fluffy pillow under his head. He was so tired. He tried to move his head, and he felt pain shooting through his back. He groaned.

“It’s alright, don’t move,” he heard the soothing female voice. Oh, my god. Was it?

He opened his eyes a crack. It was her! It was Mia looking right at him squatting at his bed. He gasped, feeling his heart wanting to leap out. Oh, but what was he doing here? With another groan he raised his head to look around. He recognized this room. It was in the cottage in Opatija!

“Mia,” he said softly - but somehow only a faint growl made it through his lips.

“Lyudmil!” Mia said springing to her feet and backing to the wall almost as if she got scared of something.

“Yes, my Lady,” a young man appeared in the doorway. Alucard recognized him. He was the caretaker of the house. “Oh, my god.”

Alucard watched them confused. “Wha-” he tried to say, but again just a growl came out.

“Don’t be scared,” Mia said but wouldn’t come an inch closer to him. “You got hurt but you’re better now. We’re here to help you.”

“My Lady, I told you it’s not a dog but a wolf! Look at those fangs!”

 _What?!_ Alucard thought and finally looking down at himself, saw white fur, where his skin was supposed to be. He sprang to his feet and growled in pain from the sudden movement. The humans backed into a corner terrified.

“My Lady, we should get rid of it, it’s most definitely not a pet!”

“No, stop it, Lyudmil, please,” Mia pleaded and taking breath, calmed herself and came a little closer.

Alucard watched her with growing desperation. What the hell was happening here? He concentrated and tried to turn back into his original form. But it didn’t work!

Mia stopped a yard from him. “Your back got hurt, my dear. I know you’re in pain. Let us help. Please.”

 _Mia, it’s me!_ he wanted to say but only a pathetic whine came out.

She looked at Lyudmil, “Please, bring some water.”

“Should I really leave you alone with it, my Lady?”

“He won’t hurt me,” she said with a confidence that Alucard found shocking now that he knew how he looked.

Lyudmil left, and Mia went to sit in the chair right next to the bed. Alucard mused, he’d have laughed at the irony of the situation, now she taking care of him, sitting in a chair beside his bed, if he didn't want to cry his eyes out. He tried again to turn back, but it was as if he was cursed, he was stuck in this form. Maybe he _was_ cursed he thought, despair covering his mind.

Mia watched him lovingly. “Oh, god, you have beautiful eyes. You remind me so much of…” she trailed off wriggling her ring on her finger. He just noticed. She was wearing all _black_.

He collapsed on the bed and started to cry. Maybe it was just a bad dream. Maybe simply the effect of the poison. Maybe he'd wake tomorrow, and it would all go away. But right now, all he could do is bitterly cry. After some hesitation, Mia sat next to him and stroked his head. The thought just made him even more miserable: was there anything more heartbreaking than a crying puppy?

But her touch was soothing and shortly, he fell into an exhausted sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and all feedback and kudos <3


	10. Chapter 10

Alucard was lying in the shade of an old oak tree in the garden of the cottage in Opatija. Three weeks went by. And he still couldn’t find a way to turn back into his original form. Three weeks of desperate trying to make Mia or Lyudmil to realize who was under the white fur of the wolf they came to love as a family pet. He even tried drawing letters in the dirt, but they weren’t legible enough for anyone to read – not that anyone was looking for a message from a wolf. After a brief period of deep despair, he temporarily gave up on trying to solve his issue realizing how much Mia needed help. She was grieving. She was mourning him as a wife mourned a beloved husband lost and so he had to find a way to make her get up each morning, eat at least a few mouthfuls and console her in her misery. Fortunately, she came to like him as a puppy as fast as she had when he was a vampire.

“Now, now, you did end up being her puppy-dog after all. For real!” Alucard heard and turned his head to look at Trevor who squatted next to him. “Fangs. That is an imaginative name for a wolf! With fangs.”

“At least, it’s not Fluffy,” Sypha said appearing opposite Alucard with a broad smile.

“Long time no see,” Alucard growled moodily and let Sypha give him a hug. “Thought I’d be left alone for good, now that you stayed away for the last weeks.”

“But we missed you,” Trevor started in a baby’s voice reaching out with his hand, “you cute little furry pooch of Mommy!”

“If you try patting my head, Belmont, I swear you’ll take that hand home in your other one,” Alucard said conversationally, and Trevor snatched his hand away laughing.

“Now, that we’re over the formalities,” he said wiping his eye, “why did you need a chat with your head-friends after three weeks of happily living with your lady?”

Alucard growled and laying his head between his paws, looked toward the cottage. Mia was standing there on the porch. Talking to a man.

“Oh,” Trevor raised an eyebrow. “So she’s already found your replacement.”

“No,” Alucard muttered. “But that man wants her to. And is quite hell-bent on the matter. His name is Petar Mitrovich, the son of a local noble man. A catch for a widow as Lyudmil put it.”

“She thinks you’re dead,” Sypha said silently, shock reflecting on her features.

“Yes,” Alucard said. “She’s mourning me.” He let out a long breath. “It’s been terrible to watch. The last weeks, she kept saying she lost everything, she has nothing to live for.”

“But now she looks … she looks alright. Maybe a bit thin and pale,” Trevor said watching her.

“She is eating better now. She started teaching children who can’t afford school. Lyudmil arranged it to give her some purpose. But a noble woman teaching poor children drew the attention of that pompous ass-blister there, and here we are. They talking intimately on the porch, me…” he turned his head away.

“Why don’t you just bite his head off?” Trevor asked.

“As much as I wish to do that, it’s not an acceptable form of interaction between a pet and a guest.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, she sent me to my place,” Alucard said sulking.

Trevor laughed and turned his palm up. “Why don’t you turn back and feed him his dick?” Alucard stared at him wondering how to raise only one eyebrow on his wolf features. Trevor grunted. “You mean you tried.”

Alucard rolled his eyes. “No. I actually enjoy peeing publicly lifting a leg. It’s good for the prostate. What do you think, dumbass?”

“So you’re stuck in this form,” Sypha mused thoughtfully.

“So it seems.” Alucard sat up and absently scratched his side with a hind-leg.

“Hey, don’t spread your flees, I have enough of them myself,” Trevor said pulling away.

Alucard gave him a friendly snarl. “For your information, I’m bathed every week because I sleep in her room. But you may want to move, I don’t want any lice off your head.”

“So you sleep in her room, ha, Fluffy?” Trevor raised an eyebrow. “And you’re complaining?”

“Oh, yes, I’m just overreacting _this_. Because being a dog is actually quite fascinating. Like smelling the current hormonal state of all humans and animals in a mile’s radius, or fending off the interest of the bitches on heat from the neighboring villages. It’s really good fun.”

Trevor raised a hand. “Hey, I’m not judging. Whatever gets you off, man. From me, you can start licking your balls right away.”

Alucard adjusted his sitting position leaning to his other side. “I let the bitches take care of that.”

“Ah, would you two stop? My stomach is turning,” Sypha cut in.

“Was just joking,” Alucard muttered lying down. “I’m kind of out of practice.”

Sypha put a sympathetic hand on his bladebones.

Trevor went on. “Look at the positive side of things. I mean apart from the fact that you’re spoiled to death, you actually got what you wanted all along. You can be with her. And at the same time, you can protect her from yourself.” He went on chuckling. “I mean, you’re a really attractive wolf, but I don’t think she’d be interested.”

Bemused as he felt over that, Alucard nodded. “I thought about that too, yes. But why can’t I turn back? I can’t think of anything else but this being my father’s crooked way to protect me. Everything is so hazy about that night. I don’t remember how I got here. I’m sure his hand is in it somehow.”

“If he’s really watching you from hell, and it wasn’t all only in your head,” Sypha said turning up a palm.

“He told me things I had no knowledge of,” Alucard said.

“Yes, but you do have quite a fantasy,” Trevor said pointing to himself and Sypha.

“Your father told you, you must not be with Mia, because you’d drag her into danger, didn’t he?” Sypha said. “What if that was simply your guilt talking? You’ve been convinced ever since you know her that you shouldn’t be with her. You made up about a hundred excuses why not. And just when she finally gets you to give the two of you a chance, bamm, your father appears and takes it all away? What kind of a coincidence is that?”

“Besides,” Trevor said. “Isn’t that your greatest fear coming true? Your dad getting resurrected? That might also be some dark thought taking a real form.”

Alucard rolled his eyes. “Argh, for god’s sake, you two! Mr. And Mrs. Sypha Belnades, doctors of psychology are in. Do you not want me to lie down on a couch?”

“Haven’t a clue what you’re talking about, man,” Trevor growled crossing his arms.

“It’s knowledge from the future,” Sypha explained. “The science he’s referring to won’t be invented till the twentieth century.”

“Wha-How do you get information like that?” Trevor stared at them taken aback then waved it away. “You know what? I better not know.”

Shortly, three new guests arrived at the house, and Alucard – wishing his friends away – walked up to where Mia was standing, all the while watching the new-comers. They seemed to be clergymen, but he couldn’t tell their ranks by their clothes. They seemed suspicious, though it could be his general mistrust of priest.

Lyudmil appeared in the doorway staying in the shade of the room.

Mia stepped up to him, “It is alright Lyudmil, return to your sleep. I’ll talk to our guests.”

“As you wish my Lady. I’ll be inside if you need me,” he said giving a frown to the clergymen and then disappeared.

“I’m looking for the owner of the house,” the leader of the group said talking to Petar.

“The Lord of this house has passed away,” he said and motioned to Mia. “His wife owns this place. But I gather you already know this fact, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

“What can I do for you?” Mia asked silently with a troubled frown. Alucard stood next to her pressing tightly to her.

“I’m Father Sola, my child,” the priest said with a small nod. “I represent the Church in our humble parish. These are my brothers. I understand that you’ve been here for quite a while, yet I haven’t seen you at a mass yet.”

Petar replied. “The Lady is still grieving. It is understandable she’s not yet able to think about joining our community.”

Sola frowned. “But she does have time to private tutor children of families that have no place around a book.”

“I’m sorry?” Mia frowned shocked. “Since when is it forbidden to teach a child to read?” Petar put a soothing hand on her arm as Sola answered.

“You are not from around, my Lady,” he said steepling his bony fingers. “In our country, there are strict rules on who can have access to certain knowledge and who doesn’t. And you are trespassing our laws.”

“What rules are those? To keep people in the darkness of illiteracy?”

“To my knowledge, you don’t simply teach these children to read from a child’s book. You teach them about pagan doctrines. Of ideas like people being equal. The Church does not consider that appropriate for children to study. Especially not children who were born to serve.”

“I don’t believe in being born to serve-“

“Er, my Lady,” Petar said stepping between them. “Please, allow me to handle this.” Mia put a hand on Alucard’s head, and he could tell she was very upset by the slight shake of her touch. He was validating his odds against the three clergymen and even Petar if it came to having to protect Mia. He calculated they’d pose no challenge.

“Father Sola,” Petar said, “I understand your concern. However, this topic has been covered by the deacon several times, as you know well. Every children is entitled to learn to read. Mrs. Tepes here is teaching from what books she has. She’s travelled from afar and had no time or opportunity yet to buy new books. But you know who used to own this house. We suspected forbidden knowledge stored in this house even decades ago. Mrs. Tepes here simply wished to do good. The Church cannot hold her accountable for simply not being aware of the nature of the books she stumbled upon in this house. I’m sure her late husband did not hurry to explain to her the occult nature of the content of their books, right, Mrs. Tepes?” he asked Mia who stood there gaping.

“Er, I don’t-“

“Right,” Petar cut her off with a gentle arm around her shoulder that made Alucard growl. “Father Sola, we’ll be happy to hand over any books you deem forbidden. And Mrs. Tepes will be immensely grateful if you could just point her in the right direction about what she can teach for her pupils.”

The priest looked deeply into Mia’s eyes, and Alucard felt her hand coming up into a fist in his fur. The man then nodded curtly. “Very well. Given that Count Mitrovich is a well-respected member of the community, I’m not asking for an inquisition into this matter. Yet. You’ll have time until sunset to get rid of all the forbidden books in your house.”

“That is perfect, Father Sola,” Petar said, “we’re grateful for your generosity.”

The priest looked over at Mia again then at the snarling Alucard, and Mia, seeing his eyes full of hatred for her dog, drew her puppy nearer to her leg protectively. The priests left, and Mia let out a breath.

She looked at her guest with a slight resentment. “My Lord, I’m capable of protecting myself. I am very much aware who used to own this house, and of the nature of his items and books. Why did you lie?”

“My Lady, please, you have no idea who you’re up against. The Church here has a great influence and Sola is a powerful man. He has a special hatred for smart women! If they find any sort of items in your house that they deem pagan or occult, you can easily find yourself in front of a court led by him.”

“I have nothing to fear. I did nothing wrong. It’s not right to be scared of clergymen. They should be serving the community, not reversed.”

Petar let out a long breath and smiled – Alucard thought rather lovingly, and it made his blood boil.

“Mrs. Tepes – Mia. I agree with every word you say. However, you need to play by their rules if you want change. Otherwise… they’ll simply put you out of their way.” He took her hand gently, and Alucard could tell she let him do that only out of politeness. Petar went on. “I wouldn’t survive if anything were to happen to you,” he whispered and kissed her knuckles.

Alucard growled at him, and Petar let her hand go with a nervous chuckle.

“Fangs! Stop it! - I’m sorry, my Lord,” she muttered.

“It’s alright,” Petar said looking at Alucard. “You’re protective of your lady, I can understand. But you’ll have to make peace with me sooner or later, buddy.” He looked at Mia with a wide grin, that Alucard thought looked rather stupid. “I’m planning to come visit often.”

Mia nodded with a polite smile. “We’re looking forward to it,” she said silently.

“I’ll return before sunset to help you get rid of all the possibly dangerous items and books in your house.” He saluted. “See you then, my Lady.”

Alucard gave him a goodbye snarl and stared after him contemplating what would happen if he found this pimp alone in a dark corner at night.

Mia collapsed in a chair, and he went to her. She wordlessly bent and put her arms around his neck. Alucard felt his heart could break not being able to hold her close and comfort her. She gave a kiss on the top of his head and let him go.

“I’m sorry, my dear,” she said in a low voice staring at her hands in her lap. Alucard lay his head in her lap. What was she sorry for?

She stroked his head.

“Mrs. Tepes …” she said silently. She wriggled the ring on her finger. “Everyone thinks he was my husband. And I don’t have any choice but to let them. But at least to you I can be honest.” Her voice was breaking. “We weren’t even lovers. We didn’t even get that far. When … When I stepped through that cursed mirror that separated us for good, he told me he’d give me a ring. He wanted to belong to me. Finally, he gave in to what we both felt.” She took a long breath. “So I thought maybe he wouldn’t mind if I let Lyudmil and everybody think …” She took the ring off and held it in her fist. “The more time passes the more wrong this feels. I took his house, I took his servant, I’m taking his money – and I took his name …” She raised her head as if awaken from a dream. “Why am I talking about this?” she said with a bitter smile. “There is no point…” she breathed sliding the ring back on.

He watched her torturing herself and cursed the moment when he chose to protect the Castle and the Hold and didn’t simply cross with her through the mirror. Whatever happened to him that night to make him end up trapped in this damned wolf form, it made both of them miserable!

She stood. “Come on, I’ll show you something.”

She led him into the house and brought him to what used to be his father’s study. He looked around. It was a small room with an enormous distance mirror on one wall – a similar one-way portal that he had in the Castle. He was fairly certain neither Mia nor Lyudmil knew what it really was, let alone were they able to activate it. He moved his eyes over to the desk with age old books on it that used to belong to his father. He then saw Mia looking at the biggest painting on the wall. It was a portrait of him.

“He seems a little bit younger than how he looked when we met.”

True. He was around twelve when the painting was made. Not that he _looked_ twelve … It was the last time they visited Opatija. Shortly before, his mother became bed ridden for months after a miscarriage. He shook his head to get rid of the terrible memory and watched Mia staring at the painting miles away.

“When we met, he didn’t look the way he does in this painting. He looked … he looked pretty much like a tramp.” She said with a small wistful giggle. “Then somehow, the next day … he was as if he was a different man. I just kept staring at him,” she shrugged helplessly fixating on the painting. “I’m sure he thought something was wrong with him. Or me. But all I could think about was, my god, he’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes upon! And he’s a vampire ready to kill me! I must be crazy.”

He watched holding his breath. He had no idea she took an interest in him as early as that day! He had been morose and hostile and – he came to admit – desperate for her attention. She collapsed in his father’s enormous armchair.

“And yes, probably I was crazy,” she breathed. “It’s crazy to fall in love with a man who keeps dancing a deadly dance back and forth between wanting to kill you and wanting to love you while he sees imaginary friends that are not there.” She raised her eyes to look at him. “Was it crazy to hold out hope for him? That he’d come around and _see_ that I’m there. I am what he’s longing for so much. Or at least I could be.”

His heart wanted to leap out of his chest. He poked her hand with his nose, and she patted him on the head lovingly. _Mia, please, see me!_ he tried to say, but only a desperate whine came out. And now he could very well empathise with what she just described.

“There’s no point in talking about this,” she whispered, her eyes reflecting a hopeless acceptance. “I have to forget him. He died that night,” her voice breaking. “I know he did even if my heart cannot accept it. Otherwise, he’d be here, I’m sure of that.” She took his face in her hands. “Soon we’ll need to leave this place, Fangs. We cannot outstay our welcome much longer. This house does not belong to me. I am no one to claim it mine! I’ll need to look for a way to support ourselves. We don’t have a choice.” She let him go and wiped an escaped tear off her cheek. “You’ll need to make your peace with Petar. He’s not a bad man. And I have to make my peace with forgetting the only man I ever loved.”

She stood and went out. He stared after her – his bleeding heart making a long keening wail emerge from his throat. His love would marry off right before his eyes just to protect his name and his memory! And he could do nothing.

He ran out of the house. Mia shouted after him, but he didn’t stop. The cottages of the village became a blur as he rushed through the streets, they then were replaced by the pine forest and it by the rocky seashore. He ran until he was completely out of breath, finding himself staring down a gorge: white rocks studded the slope like a giant’s staircase.

“What’s this mindless race?” Trevor asked levitating in front of him, above the rocks.

Alucard snarled. “What use is there to have you here? If it wasn’t for your doubts, I’d be happily living with her at home!”

“My doubts are yours! You keep forgetting, Alucard!”

“I’ll finish it for good!” he shouted and jumping into the air, bit into Trevor’s neck.

His friend simply disappeared, and he fell into the gorge, rolling down the rocks. He hit his hand and the sharp sunlight was replaced by a sudden darkness…

When he opened his eyes, the sun turned orange on the horizon. He raised his head still a little dizzy and looked over at himself. There was some blood on his fur, but his ability to regenerate seemed to work just fine. He stood up and stumbled to the ledge he ended up on, and looked out over the sea.

That night. He watched Mia through the mirror. And realized the poisoned arrow didn’t let his wound close as it should. He was bleeding badly. And then…

“You! The two of you did something to me that night!” he shouted.

Trevor and Sypha appeared floating in front of him above the gentle waves.

“I remember it clearly now,” he went on. “I got an arrow in my back. You told me you’d help! And here I am – helped! So out with it, Belmont, what did you do?!”

“We did nothing,” Sypha said silently.

“We are you,” Trevor said spreading his arms.

“No! Just as my father appeared for me, you appeared too! I’m sure of it now. Why else would I be stuck in this form? Out with it Sypha! Was it you? You’re the magician. And you, Belmont? You’re strong enough to carry me through the mirror. How else could I have ended up here?”

“Using your own resources perhaps?” Trevor said.

“I was dying of the poison!”

“You are a dhampir, Alucard,” Sypha said. “You regenerate, you cannot die of poison.”

“You remember what you _want_ to remember. Maybe you were delirious, yes. But what happened _after_ that?”

“I fainted. I know I did. I fainted, and you two held me saying you’d help,” Alucard repeated helplessly stuck with the reality he could recall.

“But we are _you_ ,” Trevor said again patiently.

“I helped myself,” Alucard whispered. “I found a way to protect her without dragging her into danger.”

“No,” Trevor said harshly. “You found a way to relieve yourself of the task to save the world again from your daddy! Isn’t it plain enough?! This is a powerful form for a fight. But can you hire some assistance like the last time to fight Dracula?” he said pointing to himself and Sypha. “And alone, you’d have no chance. You found the best excuse for not being fit for the task anymore!”

“But you were the ones telling me he probably was in my head that night.”

“That doesn’t mean that what he’d said cannot become true. He may be coming back. It may be tomorrow. It may be a hundred years from now. And what happens if he does? Who lives long enough to stand up against him?”

Alucard sat staring beyond his friends at the setting sun. Sypha appeared sitting next to him on the ledge.

“Turn back right now.”

Trevor appeared on his other side. “You have the power to.”

Alucard took a short breath and tried to recall how to reverse the shape-shifting spell. But he stopped short of finishing the magic and bowed his head. Was it true then? He really didn’t _want_ to be himself? He rather was a dog than Alucard of Wallachia, the man who was fated to kill his own father over and over again.

“Yeah, you’re pathetic,” Trevor said with a small shrug.

Sypha put a hand on his back. “No, you’re not.”

Alucard lay down. “Yes, I am,” he muttered.

“You’re not pathetic. You’re just much more human than you expect yourself to be,” Sypha said with a small smile, and he looked at her surprised as she went on. “You define yourself as a vampire. But you’re not one. Half of you is not dead inside. Not rock hard and cruel. Not a predator. Half of you has the same mistakes and weaknesses any human has.”

“And the same wishes and hopes any human has,” Trevor finished.

“So how does that NOT make me pathetic again?” Alucard asked bemused. He sighed. A strange kind of tranquillity settled over his mind and soul. “Time to stop running … there’s really nowhere to hide,” he said and finished casting the reversing spell. In a moment, he was sitting perched up on the ledge of the cliff. All alone.

The wind billowed his long hair, and he took a deep breath savouring the salty smell. He looked down at himself. Uh, his shirt was gory and in rags. “Look on the bright side: at least you’re not naked,” he told himself. Was it narcissistic to be happy over hearing his own voice?

The sun set behind the wide horizon, and the purple and orange sky gave place to a shimmering velvety blue sparkling with diamonds. The night on the seashore was beautiful. He saw himself as a little boy swimming in the sea, then his mother would wrap him up in a huge towel. They were laughing, and he ran over to his father to sprinkle some water on him. And his daddy would laugh too and sit him on his lap asking whether he was cold, holding him close.

He got up and started walking on the path leading up to the village slowly. All his life, he was alone. All he had was his parents. Other than them … But now, there was Mia. They could have what he had with his parents. He was Alucard, not Dracula. His fate would be different because he’d _make_ it different! He had an advantage over his father he never fully embraced until this moment: he was not a vampire. He’d be heartless and strong if required. But he could also be _human_ when that was required.

His chest tightened as his feet took him ever closer to the house. What would she say seeing him alive? She missed him, he knew that much, but how would he explain the last three weeks if he didn’t understand it fully either? Oh, did it matter? He’d hold her again! It was amazing how much he missed that. He would not stop kissing her once he’d have the chance to! He quickened his pace.

When he finally turned the corner and got to the house, he stopped short seeing soldiers coming in and out of the garden. Oh, god! The deadline! Did the Church come back to see if she got rid of his father’s damned books? He ran up the path and when he finally saw the porch, he gaped. Two soldiers were holding Lyudmil and that damn noble pimp, Petar was pointing his sword to his chest. Alucard’s blood boiled.

He disappeared and reappearing behind Petar, grabbed his neck from behind.

“What the-” The man struggled but he held him in an iron grip.

“My Lord!” Lyudmil cried.

“Order your lapdogs to let him go and leave as long as I’m in a good mood,” Alucard growled into the man’s ear.

Petar motioned with his hand, and the stunned soldiers ran off. Alucard turned him around and without further ado, pushed him up against the wall by the neck. Petar tried to tear his fist off struggling like mad to get free, in vain.

“I won’t ask you more than once. Where is my wife?” Alucard said on a dangerously calm voice. It was oddly satisfying to keep up the façade and call Mia his wife.

“A-At-at the citadel. She was taken by the inquisition. Please!” Petar gasped close to panic.

“And you were assisting,” Alucard hissed tightening his grip.

“Argh, please let go! I-I didn’t know what they were planning. I just wanted to get the books.”

“In exchange for her?”

“Yes! My task was to find a way to kill the vampire who lives in the house and protects her,” he said motioning to Lyudmil. “I-I need the books! My child is dying, I need to find a way to cure him. He’s all I have left after his mother died!”

Alucard was hit by that. A father willing to sacrifice everything for his child – in his mind’s eye, he saw his own father’s insane look, just before he struck him almost to his death. He let the man go. Petar bent forward coughing.

Alucard took a step back. “You are free to take all my books.”

Petar gasped stunned. “But

“Don’t get your hopes up. Most of the medical papers of my mother is not stored here but in Wallachia.” He turned to Lyudmil. “Help him any way you can.”

“But my Lord-”

“I don’t have time for revenge, Lyudmil,” Alucard cut him off and turned back to Petar.

“Tell me what you know. Why was Mia taken?”

“They wanted her from the beginning. I don’t know why, they didn’t say. They promised she’d not be hurt.”

“Who’re they?”

“I do not know. People of the Church I assumed because they were with Father Sola. But not from around. I got the impression they did not believe you were dead.”

“Why?”

“Well, they kept asking these peculiar questions. If I was sure Mrs. Tepes was a widow. Whether I’ve seen your grave and how it looked. Whether you two were married at all. If I saw any evidence of that fact. And whether she was with a child perhaps. I have no idea why anybody would be interested in those things.”

Alucard let out a short breath. No, he neither. He turned to Lyudmil.

“I need a sword.”

“Take mine,” Petar offered pointing to the richly embellished weapon lying on the ground. “It’s the least I can do. Your wife is a remarkable lady, I’m so sorry I betrayed her.”

Alucard took the sword and stepped to Lyudmil.

“I’ll bring her back.”

“My Lord,” the young vampire said with tears in his eyes. “Allow me to go with you.”

“No. This is my task.”

“Be very careful,” Petar said silently. “The Church has a good army in that citadel.”

Alucard nodded and disappeared leaving the two men gaping after him.

* * *

The citadel was a huge fortress built on the top of a white rock overseeing the village and the bay. In the basement, Alucard knew, prisoners were kept. Both for earthly and religious crimes. They surely took Mia there.

He was crouching behind a rock, calculating his odds against the dozens of soldiers marching in and out through the gate. “Because you need to do it alone, idiot,” he told himself. Not that he wouldn’t survive, but how would he take Mia out of here all alone?

He turned and pressed his back against the rock. He needed a good plan. He needed to spare his own resources. If he fought his way through to get inside, he’d lose precious time and blood, not to mention running the risk of getting killed. It was more than enough to face those things on the way out. What was the most obvious possible way to get into a prison? And then an idea struck.

He stumbled out from behind a rock and started to sing a tune he heard as a child.

_“I’ll bind my horse, to a sad-sad willow,_

_I’ll cry bitter tears in the pillow, the pillow,_

_I’ll let my horse go, at the waking moon,_

_From my dear, will death part me soon?”_

“Hey, what are you doing here?” a guard asked from afar marching towards him.

He stumbled up to the soldier and put his arm around his shoulder, “Oh, my dear friend. Let’s go have a drink in this dirty little tavern you’ve got here!”

“Are you crazy? Do you know who you’re talking to?”

Another guard came up. “Leave him, Goran, he’s drunk.”

“I am not!” Alucard stated straightening his posture and then stumbling forward almost falling.

“Leave, you lunatic. If the Captain finds you here, you’ll be looking at a night at the slammer.”

“So then let’s invite him too! Captain, here Cappy-Cappy!” Alucard shouted.

The first guard gave him a hard shove in the stomach. It took Alucard a moment to consider the appropriate reaction to that and then groaned and collapsed on the ground.

“What is going on here?” a third soldier showed up.

“Nothing, Captain,” the guards replied in unison. “Just a crazy drunkard.”

“You wanted to invite me, ha?” the Captain asked Alucard, pushing the guards out of his way and kicked Alucard in the side. He groaned again crouching into a fetal position on the ground, not making eye contact with the man.

“Take him to a cell. I’ll interrogate him tomorrow, when I have the time. I don’t like drunk strangers lurking around the citadel in the middle of the night.”

“Yes, sir,” the guards saluted.

“You,” the Captain pointed at one of them. “When you’re done locking this one up. Bring the woman to the interrogation room. Father Sola wants to do the inquisition now.”

“Yes, sir.”

Alucard felt his heart clench, but he knew he must not react. He let himself be dragged to the cells, hoping he’d simply have to fight the one guard before getting to Mia.

But fate was not graceful, he mused, when he was taken through a dark corridor with hundreds of cells and half a dozen guards marching up and down. From the bottoms of those torture chambers, moans and prayers came through, and his heart sank. Mia was here somewhere; she must be terrified. They turned a corner and even more cells appeared. What the hell was this vicious maze?!

Finally, they got to the very end of the corridor. The door opened with a screech.

“Hey, you,” the guard called into the pitch-dark cell. “You got yourself a drinking buddy.” A sleepy groan was the only reply he got. He grasped Alucard’s arm, and pushed him inside then pulled the bars over them. “Have fun!” He then left.

Alucard stared out of the cell over the corridor. Mia was not here. He’d have smelled her if she were. But then where the hell was she?!

He studied the enormous lock on the bars.

“Look, what the cat dragged in,” he heard from behind and rolled his eyes.

“Shut the fuck up, Belmont, I don’t have time for you just now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, is this how vampires greet old friends?” he heard from his side, and turning his head slowly, he raised his saucer-wide eyes up to his cell-mate’s face. “What? That cat got your tongue?” the goddamn Belmont said with a chuckle and when Alucard felt the light touch of his hand on his arm, he leaped back a foot, his head banging into the wall behind him.

“God, you’re real!” Alucard whispered. He swallowed fixating on his friend. “You’re real, aren’t you?”

“As real as I ever get!” Trevor replied with a chuckle.

Next thing Alucard knew was that he was holding his friend close. Trevor didn’t even have the chance to return the hug. His arms got pinned to his sides, his ribs at the very verge of breaking in Alucard’s grip, his feet hanging in the air.

“Argh, that’s the oddest way a vampire ever tried to kill me,” Trevor groaned on the last breath in his chest.

Alucard put him down and let him go blinking stunned and mortified. What the hell was he doing?

Trevor coughed that ended in a laugh. “The last person I thought I’d run into here was you! What the hell are you doing here, Alucard?”

“I, er – that’s too long to explain. I’ll summarize. The woman I love is held here somewhere. Will you help me save her?”

Trevor shrugged. “Now, that you woke me from my slumber, I don’t have anything better to do.”

Alucard raised an eyebrow. “Right. My apologies. Please, get back under that comfortable pile of straw reeking of piss and manure.” He turned back to the bar and with a gentle nudge, tore the door out of the hinges. “I wouldn’t disturb the dreams you can get in that muck for the world.”

“No need to go on sulking, I said I’ll help,” Trevor muttered as they stepped out on the corridor.

“Hey, what the hell!” they heard from the other end as two guards started running towards them – while the inmates started to cheer. Alucard sent two balls of fire and took the soldiers out.

“Hmm, Sypha will be envious seeing you stole her trick.”

“Where is she anyways?” Alucard asked as they marched on in the barely lit corridor, he tearing an occasional door off. The freed prisoners ran about, giving the guards some extra job with the havoc in their wake.

“Well, teaching me a lesson about getting into a barfight drunk,” Trevor replied with a shrug. “She said she’d not bail me out this time, I should learn how shitty it is to sleep in a cell.”

“I can see it worked perfectly,” Alucard said sarcastically, taking out two more guards. A prisoner pushed them out of his way, while two others gave them a shove from the other side getting out of their cells. “Damn… How is she sleeping listening to your snoring by the way? It could have been heard at the end of the corridor.”

Trevor rolled his eyes. “Ah, do you need me at all? Because if I’m here only to be your punching bag-”

They got into a chamber with a wide staircase lit by torches, and they stopped short. Two dozen guards armed to teeth were striking down the prisoners who made it this far. And they were looking right at the two of them.

“Somehow I have a feeling you wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep if you turned back just now, Belmont,” Alucard said.

“Fuck, I knew you’d be my death one day, you bastard,” Trevor breathed.

“Attack!” the Captain of the guards shouted, and the soldiers moved as one toward the two weaponless friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. I'm very happy to finally be able to write the "real" Trevor - it's a challenge because he has to be different from how Alucard always imagines him, but it's good fun to do! :)  
> The song Alucard sings is the very rough translation of an actual (very-very sad) folk song.
> 
> I'll try to go back to the original schedule of one-two updates a week. (I'm actually helping a friend write his PHD, and researching medical papers in English is a lot more time consuming than I thought it would be. Hence the delays.) 
> 
> Feedback always welcome and immensely appreciated! Thanks for all the kudos too!!!! <3


	11. Chapter 11

Alucard got a huge blow in the face when his attention diverted from his opponent to Trevor who was visibly getting overwhelmed by having to fight three soldiers without his trusty whip. He turned his head back to the guard who'd hit him, with an arched brow. The man gaped at him and raised his fist to try his luck again, but Alucard caught it in the air and twisting his wrist, he broke the man’s arm then knocked him out. Two others replaced him. He took the sword of his unconscious previous opponent and fended off the attacks that now came from all directions. Just like in Wallachia three weeks ago.

He parried a powerful blow and his opponent's body froze in the movement then went limp, and behind him, Trevor appeared pulling his sword out of the soldier’s back. Their eyes met. The same fire burned in their gazes, Alucard recognized with a stunned small smile. He was not alone this time. Trevor leapt next to him, and they stood back to back fending off the ever more furious attacks.

“We won’t be holding on like this forever, Alucard.”

“Given that none of you are immortals, you surely will not.”

“I’m happy to hear you still have that damn annoying humor of yours. I’d also be happy to hear the plan.”

“The plan is to grab my girl and run.”

Trevor’s chuckle didn’t sound sincere, and it got muffled by a fist in his face. The punch made him stagger dizzily to the side. Alucard turned and dropped a fireball on the owner of said fist. Trevor coughed in the ensuing moment of stunned pause. The soldiers stared at the scorched remnants of their comrade and raised their weapons with a new-found rage.

“That was a bad idea,” Trevor remarked taking a step back..

“Remind me the next time I want to save your skin,” Alucard muttered but seeing the effect of his magic on the faces of their opponents actually gave even to him a scare. The soldiers stood around them with drawn swords and snarls that would have fit the faces of hungry vampires seeing their dinner.

“How many of these fireballs can you make in one go?” Trevor asked.

“Not enough.”

And then they heard a voice that seemed to be sent from the heavens.

“Will ice do?”

The next moment a wall of ice grew out of the floor surrounding Trevor and Alucard and blocking the soldiers way to them. The two men looked around stunned just to see Sypha standing in the doorway of the room. A thin ice-corridor lead from it to them blocking the enraged soldiers out.

“Sypha?” Alucard gaped. She was gorgeous and magnificent as always – and, and... Alucard took double takes on her. “Is she-”

“Pregnant?" Trevor asked. "No, just put on an awfully lot of weight,” he said with a wave of his hand as she walked up to them.

Alucard blinked but his mouth curled into an astonished smile, and Trevor laughed. “She’s in the seventh month. And by the way, never make that joke in front of her, if you enjoy having your head between your ears.”

Sypha reached them with an enormous smile and glinting eyes.

“Alucard! I can’t believe I’m seeing you!” She pulled him into a bear hug, and he held her as close as possible with her belly rounding so much. She let him go but kept on holding his hands.

“Sypha, I-I don’t know what to say.” He said moved looking over at her again.

She giggled softly. “Anything except the stupid joke of me putting on a lot of weight,” she said looking pointedly at Trevor.

He held his hands up. “He didn't hear it from me.”

“Congratulations,” Alucard said squeezing her tiny hands. God, she was radiant. As radiant as she’d been when he’d last seen her.

She let him go and turned to Trevor. “The bit of a hustle you created worked. It diverted the attention of the guards, and I got into the upper levels. I found him.”

Alucard raised an eyebrow. “What worked again? This bit of a hustle was completely incidental by us doing a bit of a prison break.”

Sypha put a fist on her side looking at Trevor. “Incidental?! I thought I gave you a task.”

Trevor turned his palms up with a wince. “Uhm, you give me so many tasks…”

She let out a short breath. “I told you after the barfight, just before the guards took you to use the opportunity that you’re being brought here and create some sort of a diversion, so I could investigate up there without much of a resistance.”

“No. What you said was, you were so pissed about the barfight, that I should suck it up, and you won’t bail me out.”

“No! What I said was that I’m so pissed about the barfight that you should suck it up AND while you’re at it, you may just as well create a diversion so I could do my job upstairs.”

“Have no memory of that,” Trevor muttered crossing his arms, and Sypha closed her eyes visibly praying for more patience. “Oh, come on,” he went on. “I got such a nasty blow on my head last week, sometimes three-four of you give me three-four different tasks at once.”

“Or it’s just the effect of the three-four beers you drank last night!”

“Well, maybe that too,” Trevor said with a pout.

Sypha opened her mouth to answer, but Alucard put a hand on her arm.

“Guys, guys. As fascinating as _this_ is,” he said pointing at the two of them, “I still need help here. And urgently so!”

“Oh, right, let’s get going,” Trevor said. Sypha wordlessly handed him his Morningstar whip, and he took it with a small kiss on the weapon. Then seeing her annoyed pout, he repeated the tenderness on her lips too. They got going and filled Sypha in as they hurried on the corridor, leaving the guards behind the ice walls. They stopped short at the next corner and looked out into a large, well-lit hall. A hooded figure came out from one end and left at the other, through a heavy oak gate.

“There he is!” Sypha hissed and was about to jump after the man, but Trevor stopped her.

“We’ll need to pass on that, we have other priorities.”

“Fine,” Sypha groaned, and it crossed Alucard’s mind to ask who they were hunting, but the thought was discarded when the drought reached his nose. The other end of the hall led to the open yard of the citadel through a similarly heavy gate; the man most probably came from there, and sniffing into the air, Alucard now knew where Mia was.

“She was taken outside,” he breathed.

“We have to take out the guards,” Trevor said.

“I don’t feel very good about killing humans,” Sypha winced.

“I’ll work something out,” Trevor said. “You two save your breaths for outside, I have a feeling we’ll need some magic out there, so let me do mine here.”

He took out a coin from his pocket and rolled it toward the guard on the left. The man exchanged glances with his partner and went to study the coin. When he bent down, the coin jumped and rolled backwards. He frowned confused and went after it again, but as soon as he bent to it, it escaped yet again! Alucard raised his brows then noticed the thin string attached to it. He looked at Trevor: he was grinning as he led the man to their waiting arms. When he got near enough, Trevor stepped out from behind the corner and hit him full force in the face twice. He collapsed without a noise.

“Hey!” the other one called, but Trevor was already there and knocked him out too.

Sypha and Alucard went up to him while he collected his coin. Alucard looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and Trevor laughed. “I can pull out coins from behind your ears too.”

Sypha shushed them and opened the gate a crack. They peered out.

The round shaped yard was surrounded by a tall stonewall, fire was burning in what seemed to be huge barrels of oil, and as far as the eyes could see there were torturing devices everywhere. The sand was soaked in the blood and excrement of the prisoners, screams and pleading and prayer came from every direction, and the three of them stood there frozen to the spot looking into the darkest pits of the inquisition. Alucard felt a chill crawl up his spine knowing that somewhere amongst these miserable souls, there was his love. They wasted too much time, he vaguely thought, but his mind went completely blank when he finally saw.

At the far end of the yard, there sat Father Sola behind the desk of an inquisitional judge, surrounded by his men clad in all black. And among them stood Mia. One of the men gripped her hair and pushed her head into a huge wooden tub. When he pulled her out, water was sheeting off her hair and face, soaking the little clothing she had on, a thin sleeveless shirt and a skirt. She took huge gasps of breath, terrified to death.

“Where is he?” Sola asked.

“He’s dead,” she sobbed, and the burly man holding her pushed her head back underwater at the motion of Sola’s finger.

“We can be at this the whole night, if you want,” Sola said steepling his bony fingers and leaning back in his wooden armchair.

In a singular second, Alucard saw the same steepling of bony fingers on the hands of the bishop that burned her mother alive on the stakes, and he saw his mother’s sweet face distorted by excruciating pain turning into Mia’s sweet face, her screams blending into those of his mothers. The next thing he knew was the torturing devices all around blurring into nothingness as he rushed across the yard among them in his wolf form. He just could make out Trevor bark, “Fuck, don’t…” but the rest of the sentence was lost in his lack of interest.

He leapt into the air and landed on the back of Mia’s torturer. The man’s head snapped up with a scream, giving him access to his aim, and with a single motion of his head, ripped the man's throat out. He collapsed and struggled for breath for a few moments before dying. Alucard turned back into his original form and grasping Father Sola’s tunic at the front, pulled him out of his chair. He hissed his vampiric hiss.

“Are you looking for me?”

The man could only give him a shaky grunt as a reply before he was sent flying across the room, his bones breaking like dry twigs with an ominous crack, on encounter with the wall. Sola’s henchmen ran off screeching from the top of their lungs.

Alucard turned and on the periphery of his mind, it got registered that Sypha and Trevor were fighting the guards pouring into the yard through the gates and that he should hurry. But he was standing face to face with Mia, and all he could do was to stare at her petrified.

She stood there slouching and soaked to skin. She was grasping the edge of that damn tub as if her life depended on it. Her eyes were unfocused, her features reflected nothing more than some mild confusion, but her whole body was shaking like a leaf. Alucard finally understood that she was in shock: perhaps she didn’t even recognize him.

“Mia,” he breathed and stepping to her just caught her as her knees gave way, and she was about to collapse. He held her to him with one arm, stroking her cheek and holding her head up. “It’s me, look at me. It’s over.”

“I don’t know…” she muttered, her eyes closing. “He’s dead, he’s not…”

“Shh, hush,” he held her close picking her up.

“He’s not my husband,” she mumbled against his chest. “I lied. I lied…” Her eyes rolled back, and she passed out.

That was what bothered her when she got tortured because of him? That she lied about them being married? “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

“Hey, there,” he heard Trevor. His whip was around the neck of two soldiers at once. “It’s high time we go, so if you’d be so kind to join us-” He finished on a grunt getting a nasty blow in the face that left his nose bleeding. Sypha’s ice arrow took out his opponent.

Alucard ran up to them but knew he couldn’t just take Mia into the warzone, so he stopped a few yards from them in a relatively calm spot watching his friends, torn about what to do. Sypha seemed to have understood his dilemma – or just got bored having to fight dozens of armed soldiers pregnant and sent a huge ball of fire to the roof of the building. The soldiers stopped short and stared at her.

She conjured another ball of fire above her palm. “Now, my boys! Who wants a piece of the pregnant lady?”

Most of the soldiers dropped their swords and ran, the rest followed suit when she blew up the next fireball right at their feet. The couple walked up to Alucard, and he smiled at them amazed and immensely grateful.

“You got your girl,” Trevor said smiling back, and Alucard nodded. Trevor studied Mia’s face with a small frown, and Alucard realized that the two of them knew each other from their childhood, though Trevor didn’t seem to recognize her. He instinctively held Mia a bit closer to his chest.

“Let’s get out of here,” Sypha said and made an elegant staircase out of ice, leading them over the wall.

On the other side, some more guards were waiting, and they had to run. Trevor remained behind and from the sounds of it, Alucard could tell he was making very good use of his beloved whip. The stopped in a darkened alley to wait for him.

“Where to now?” Sypha asked still a little out of breath.

“Are you alright?” Trevor asked with a concerned hand on her shoulder.

“Fine. Just carrying that little extra weight, you love to mention and always forget to say whose fault it really is that I’m carrying it,” she said with a squint.

He grunted. “I didn’t hear you complaining when I was doing the deed,” he muttered and at her small mischievous smile, stroked her shoulder. Alucard felt it was strangely heartwarming to see the tenderness between them. It was surprising to feel that way, after how much he hated their naturally forming bond while in the Hold. One he never had a chance to share in – or to experience with Sypha, the way he had longed to at the time.

“How is your friend, Alucard?” Sypha asked distracting him from his reverie. He looked at Mia in his arms. Her face was buried in his chest, and she was still unconscious, but otherwise, he couldn’t see any wounds or blood anywhere on her skin. He tightened his embrace on her, seeing her wet hair.

“She was tortured,” he said, his voice caught in his throat.

“Who’s she?” Sypha asked looking at him.

“She’s – Well, she’s…” He was about to say his wife. But he couldn’t lie about this to his friends. He shook his head. “Complicated.”

“I see,” Sypha replied with a soft smile that somehow made him blush.

“I need to take her home.”

“It’s a very long way to Wallachia if that’s what you mean,” Trevor said. “We calculated it’s at least another month to get home.”

“Not if you go through a mirror. Come, let me invite you to the holiday home of Dracula.”

* * *

Alucard said his farewells to Lyudmil and bequeathed the house to him. They then marched through the mirror residing in the study of Dracula – to end up in the study of Dracula in Wallachia. The portal closed, and the mirror gently lay itself down on the floor. The room was pitch dark, so Sypha lit the fire in the fireplace with a motion of her finger.

“There must have been _some_ fight here,” Trevor said looking around and seeing blood everywhere.

“Well, not here exactly. I got wounded outside and then came up here and…” Alucard trailed off. _And then you in my head said you’d help, and I turned myself into a wolf for the last three weeks._ He bowed his head.

“That’s when you left for Opatija through the mirror? You had to run for your life?” Sypha asked.

“No, not exactly, just... Look,” Alucard said standing opposite them. “I’m forever in your debt for helping me save her. But we’ll need to put off filling in each other on the past year till tomorrow. I need to make sure she’s alright now.”

“Of course,” Sypha said nodding.

“You’ll find your way around, I presume. Take any bedroom you wish. In the kitchen you might find some stocks that are still edible.”

“We’ll be fine, Alucard, take care of her,” Trevor said.

“Good night to you,” Alucard said, and they parted ways on the corridor.

“So care to rummage the kitchen of a vampire?” he heard Trevor.

“With pleasure,” Sypha replied. “I hope it’s not only tins of blood he meant when he said edible stocks,”

Alucard smiled walking up the stairs carrying Mia. He stopped for a moment to look at the always dimly lit hall. He sighed. He was home. God, he was home! He bent down and planted a long kiss on her forehead then brought her up to her room.

* * *

After putting Mia to bed, Alucard went downstairs to his own room to wash his face and change his still gory shirt. It carried the dirt from his nasty fall off the cliff in Opatija, the fight in the citadel _and_ the battle three weeks ago. It really had to go. He discarded it on top of the mountain of laundry piling up in the corner. He opened his closet and found that he’d soon need to take care of that damn smelly pile: he ran out of comfortable shirts. He hated the ones that needed buttoning at the front, he grimaced putting one on, and left it open.

He went back to Mia’s room. She was lying on her side in a fetal position, clutching the corner of the pillow. He squatted next to her on the floor and put a soothing hand on her hair. It was still damp. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling guilt covering him like a shroud.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “If I hadn’t been licking my wounds – almost in a literal sense – you wouldn’t have to go through this terrible ordeal.”

She sighed and relaxed feeling his touch. He watched her with a tiny smile. It was the way they had been for so long while she was sick: he watching her sleep, chasing away her nightmares. He adjusted into a more comfortable position on the ground then put his hands on top of each other on the bed and lay his cheek on his forearm. He was tired, but he didn’t want to leave and didn’t want to frighten Mia with having to find a vampire soundly sleeping next to her either. Dhampir to be exact. He sighed heavily. He’d need to start redefining himself, if he wanted to embrace all that he got from life. The good and the bad.

Right now, he wanted to concentrate on the good. He had his friends here again. He had Mia. And he was a humanoid instead of a canine – the small joys of life! He stroked her hair again with a smile feeling stupidly happy. Maybe they could turn her lie of them being married into truth. Maybe he’d ask Trevor to be his best man, and Sypha could be maid of honor. In his mind’s eye, the image of Trevor fidgeting nervously in elegant clothing and Sypha berserking over having to wear an impossible-colored maid of honor dress appeared, and he chuckled quietly.

A thought struck just then. This was exactly the kind of image his head-friends would plant into his mind. But he was alone! They did not appear, he was just _he_. He felt a slight regret over that thought mixed into immense relief. After all, it wasn’t the end of the world NOT to be on the very verge of being a complete lunatic.

Mia gasped and turned to her back with a soft moan. He raised his head alarmed, he recognized her having a nightmare at the first sign. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaning above her stroked her cheek.

“Shh, hush, it’s not real,” he said in a low voice

She moaned tossing and turning

“Mia.” 

She pushed his hand away. “No … no, let go…” 

He frowned. Her nightmares were bad but not to this extent. He gently shook her by the shoulder. “Mia, wake up!” he called. “You hear me? Wake up, you’re having a nightmare.”

She gasped, and her eyes snapped open. He let her go so as not to make her feel trapped, and she sat up abruptly crawling back up to the headboard into a crouching position. She didn’t recognize him – and when she did she stared at him as if … well, as if she’d just seen a _ghost_.

“Don’t be frightened,” he said sliding closer but resisting the urge to simply take her into his arms.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She shook her head, and he was sure, she didn’t quite know where she was or what had happened to her.

“It’s alright. You’re safe. You’re in your room. In the Castle. It was just a dream.”

She let out a short breath looking around, confusion on her brows. “Was it?” 

“Yes.”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and he saw she relaxed a little. “It was all so realistic,” she whispered. “It was horrible, you … I was stuck in a foreign land and…you died, and…” her voice broke.

“Oh,” he cleared his throat. “That-that actually did happen, it was real. At least, in part.”

She looked into his eyes again. “It _was_?”

“Yes. No. I mean …” he clammed up. How should he explain it? How should he even start to explain that he had been living as her dog and could only turn back into his original form when he figured his stupid issues out? How should he explain he was talking to his imagined friends while she was taken and tortured by the inquisition? He slouched. High spirits gone.

“You’re alive?” she asked in a shaky voice, drawing his gaze back to her face. She had tears in her eyes. “I’m not dreaming this, you really are alive!”

His lips parted but no sound came out. He nodded. _Then we’re both dreaming_ , he thought, praying for her never to ask about how it was possible!

“Oh, god!” she breathed and before he realized what was happening, her sweet mouth was over his, her fingers probing the lines of his face and her soft body melting into his. He pulled her across his lap with a grunt, his arms around her tiny waist fit like gloves on a hand, her thighs around his waist ignited a fire that made him kiss her even deeper. Oh, how much he longed to do this! he thought tiling his head and slipped his tongue between her moist lips. Oh, how much!

She broke away and stroked his hair, still complete astonishment on her features. “You’re alive. You’re alive!” she kept repeating between kisses on his lips, cheeks and nose, and finally she buried her face in his hair at the crook of his neck.

He held her to him and shut his eyes, inhaling her fragrance. His breath was caught in his throat, and his eyes were moist, it’d never been more bittersweet to hold her.

“Mia…” her name a prayer on the lips of a sinner. She tightened her embrace and kissed his shoulder.

He kissed her temple and then the beautiful curve of her neck and finally found her mouth again. A sudden desperation flooded his mind. As if he only just then did understand fully the fact that this moment of happiness could only be temporary. A single instant between endless stretches of loneliness and pain.

With a groan, he lay her on the bed. He pushed his tongue through lips and teeth and peeling her undergarments off her shoulder took her uncovered breast in his palm. She accepted the almost rough caresses, her hands came up into fists in his hair. He slid his hand from her knee up her shapely thigh and feeling her exquisite body under his fingertips, desire flooded his mind covering everything else in the world with a warm haze. The only thing left was a craving, hard and sharp and hot. He even felt his claws appear for a second on the wake of the sensation. She must have felt the change in his embrace because she writhed sensually under him with a muffled moan against his mouth. And he saw himself pinning her hands above her head, taking her with an instinctual growl, tearing at her fragile flesh. He broke away from her mouth gasping. No. This wasn’t right. He wanted to experience this with his human side. His predatoristic urges had no place in their bed. She opened her eyes and panted looking at him through her lashes confused and visibly wanting him to go on.

He stroked her cheek lovingly and she gave him a tired smile. Lying above her, staring into her eyes, he felt a strange kind of control forming over his animalistic needs. He bent to her lips and kissed her again deeply and firmly but with as much love as he could put into a singular kiss. She slipped her arms around his waist pulling him close invitingly, and sliding her hands up his back under the opened shirt. He gasped when her fingers touched the scar where the poisoned arrow had wounded him. It was still a little tender even after weeks. He broke away, and she searched his eyes moving her hands from his bladebones.

“It’s alright,” he said silently.

“You sure?” she asked concerned stroking his cheek.

“Yes, it’s just a scar,” he muttered. “Forget it,” he said seeing her worried gaze and gave her a small kiss. She slid her fingers into his hair as the kiss deepened but in a moment’s time, grunted and pulled away. He raised himself a little to look at her.

“What is it?” he asked starting to feel alarmed, seeing her expression: it was nothing he’d ever seen on her face.

She opened her mouth, the crease on her forehead deepening. “Where-where were you?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“What?”

“Where were you?” she asked again shock forming on her features.

It started to dawn on him just what she meant by that question, and his heart sank. It was stupid to think he’d get away with saying nothing about the past weeks.

“Where were you, Adrian?” she asked again, her voice now trembling. “Where were you for three weeks?”

He let out a long breath and pushed himself into a sitting position. She sat too pulling her legs underneath her and covered her nakedness with a shaky hand.

“Why don’t you say something? Why don’t you say _anything_?”

“Because it’s difficult to explain, Mia. Even I don’t completely understand it.”

She shook her head, utter disbelief in her eyes. “I remember something, something that should be just a dream, because it’s so impossible… When that monster inquisitor let me go, and I could pull my head out of the water then… then I saw my _dog_ , my sweet puppy. He killed that monster and then he…”

“Mia.” 

“Tell me that I’m crazy. Tell me you weren’t there in that cottage as my dog. Tell me and I’ll believe it, just tell me it’s not true.”

“I-I… I won’t. I can’t.” 

“Oh, god it was you, it was you all along,” she breathed and got up. She stumbled to the window dizzily and put her hand on the frame for support. He stood and went to her.

“Mia, it’s not the way you think.”

“No?” she asked turning back sharply. “So it’s not like I was mourning you for three weeks, sobbing every singular night and cursing myself for not staying and dying with you here. While you were there all along. And _watched_!”

“No, it’s – I-I mean, yes, I knew you suffered horribly, but I … I just couldn’t turn back. I tried to in those three weeks, countless times. But somehow, I couldn’t.”

“I saw you turning back! I saw you! I just pulled my head out of that damn tub of torture and I _saw_ , Adrian!”

“I know, because by then, the reversing spell did work.”

The words hung in the air. He heard them and he knew they were completely nonsensical. He wasn’t even surprised seeing her roll her eyes, and a small mirthless chuckle escaped her lips. She took a few aimless steps away from him shaking her head. Desperation grew in his heart with every step she took. He knew it would be difficult to explain it. But he never thought she’d not believe him.

“Mia, I swear to you. If I could have, I would have turned back.”

She just kept pacing and finally ended up at the window. The night swallowed his Forest of the Dead, but he knew, she saw it, nonetheless. Here she was in the bedroom of a cruel monster who staked her kind. And that monster was now trying to make her believe that he didn’t make her suffer out of spite.

“You know all these three weeks,” she started on a tired voice not looking at him. “I’ve been having the tiniest hunch that I’m wrong and you’re actually alive. Because I’d feel it if you... I kept cursing myself, that I stoop so low that I’m doubting you in your death. I’m _betraying_ you!” She turned to him, bitterness oozing out of each and every movement. “Because you finally made your mind up. Because I believed you wanted me. Wanted us together.”

“It was so,” he muttered.

“Was it?”

“Yes. Mia, please, just believe me,” he begged taking her hands in his.

But she pulled away with a sob. “What do you want me to believe? That one time your magic tricks work, at others they don’t? That dog was my only consolation the last weeks. And you’re poisoning even his memory now that I know it was nothing but a lie!”

“It wasn’t a lie! What other reason would I have to not turn back, for god’s sake, apart from not being able to?!” 

“Isn’t it plain? You didn’t _want_ to! We almost slept together, and you got cold feet. You didn’t know how to go on or _if_ you wanted to at all, and it was the easiest escape.”

“Oh, yes? So then in your book, why were we in bed just now all over each other, if I’m so scared of…” he trailed off not wanting to be vulgar.

“Because you’re just coasting along your life, Adrian, calling that your fate! That’s why. I don’t doubt you have feelings for me, but you’re scared to death of them, so you just let everything _happen_ so as you don’t have to make one goddamn decision about your life!”

He shook his head. “That might have been the case before. But this time, it was different! Just let me tell you everything, please.”

She let out a long breath bowing her head then nodded and he felt his heart would leap out of his chest as he talked.

“Three weeks ago, after you crossed over the mirror, I went outside and there were all those men and the priest leading them. They wanted to arrest me for an inquisition and … and then there was a horrible battle. I was hit by an arrow on my back, which was poisoned. And I was bleeding very badly. But this I didn’t notice until later because my father appeared!”

“Your father?” she whispered shock mixing with disbelief.

“Yes! At first, I couldn’t believe it either, but he was here and-”

“Adrian,” she put her hands on his arms cutting him off. “Your father is _dead_ , Adrian. _You_ killed him.”

“I-I know, but he-he really appeared, Mia.”

“The way your friends do?”

“Yes! No. I-I told you it’s complicated. But please, please believe me,” he took the next breath to go on.

She looked away for a moment. “I believe that you believe what you say.”

He slouched. God, she really thought he was completely nuts! “I know how this sounds. It was unbelievable for me to see him again too, oh, you can’t imagine how much… But he told me things.” He took her hands in his. “He came to warn me.”

“Warn you.”

“Yes. Oddly enough, even after what transpired between the two of us … he came because he wanted to try to protect me.”

“From what?”

“From people who want to revive him. If that happens, I’ll be the only one to have a chance to fight him … and to kill him again. He warned me if we’re starting a family just now, you and … and our children would be in danger. Then … I found myself in Opatija, as a wolf. And you were tending to me. That’s all I remember. I swear to you it happened the way I just told you.”

She let his hands go and looked at him bitterly. “Your father came back from hell to tell you not to be together with me. And then you couldn’t turn back from your wolf form.”

“Yes.”

“So how is this any different from not _wanting_ to turn back?”

He stood there taken aback. She had a point. The reversing spell didn’t work because he didn’t want to be himself. He wanted to be spared from his own fate.

“I-I guess it’s not.” He bowed his head, shutting his eyes. Then took up all his courage and stepped to her to take her hands again. “Mia. I know you think this whole ordeal was because I’m having doubts about us. But believe me, I don’t have any more doubts. These three weeks were hell for me too. I was with you, but you didn’t _see_ me, and I had to watch you and that man… I thought I’d go crazy!”

She raised an eyebrow but smothered the expression, and he winced. “Alright, I mean I thought I’d go more crazy than I normally am. But the point is. I want you. I want us. Here and now, I’ve never been more sure of anything!”

“Now,” she said in a low voice.

“Yes.”

“What about tomorrow? And the day after?” she asked in a breaking voice. “Maybe you’re sure now.” She let his hands go, and he never thought the loss of a touch could be physically painful. “But I am not.”

He gasped. What was she saying?! “But … isn’t this what you wanted? Us together.”

She took in a shaky breath. “Oh, yes! I wanted you so much that it blinded me from seeing what _you_ needed. What you are prepared for. And you’re terrified of being happy. You’re terrified of bonding with someone because everybody whom you ever loved left you. You’re not ready for this. You’re not ready for us. And I … I’m forcing you into something you don’t really want.”

“But I do want it!” he said in a breaking voice. He took her by the shoulders. “I want you. I know I was an idiot before. But things will be different from now on.”

She stroked his cheek lovingly. “I’m sure you’re dreaming of it. You wish for it. But really wanting it…”

He bent to her and her further words were drowned in his kiss. He took her face in his palms and explored her mouth with a passion that he prayed would be just enough to make her believe he meant every single word he’d said. A soft moan escaped her, and she broke away from his lips just to bury her face in his shoulder in a muffled sob. Her fingers dug into the front of his shirt as if she never wanted to let go. 

But she did let go and took a shaky step back.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I just can’t go through this again.” She wiped her cheek trying to get a grip. “I-I can’t do this, can’t talk about this, just … Let’s retire now, we’re both tired.”

He frowned, bitterness welling up. “Who’s running now, Mia?”

She kept her gaze off of his and hugged herself. He sighed heavily. She did have a good reason for wanting to run.

A minute stretched on endlessly, and finally she took a tentative step to the bed. He stood there dumbly not knowing what to do. He didn’t want to just leave, but she’d surely not want him to sleep in her bed now, and he had no reason to sleep in that damn chair either. He had no reason to be in her room as it was. He looked into her exhausted, tear-filled eyes. He knew he should say something. Something huge and powerful that would make her believe he was telling the truth. But once again the words escaped him. Even if he wanted to shout those words out.

He turned and went out, his heart sinking deeper than the deepest pits of hell when he heard her soft crying through the closed door. It was all his making. His alone. She’d been there, she waited for him, held on to him, endured so much beside him, for him, and he kept letting her down. He collapsed on the stairs and burying his face in his palms joined in her flood of sorrow, once again all alone in the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, the quartet is together. All they have to do is find harmony and play a nice tune for us. :)
> 
> Thanks for the feedback and the kudos! Much-much appreciated! <3


	12. Chapter 12

After running out of tears, Alucard wandered aimlessly on the corridors as he was, barefoot and in an open shirt. He felt completely drained, but his feet somehow didn’t want to take him back to his room in the basement where his coffin was. From time to time he found himself at Mia’s door. Was it a pathetic metaphor to think of his pathetic state as being sent to the doghouse? He raised his fist to knock, then put his hand on the knob, but he just couldn’t get himself to enter. He slouched ashamed for being such a coward and walked off into the dark corridor again.

His mind felt like a big black hole. He wasn’t sure if he ever felt as confused as when Mia uttered those terrible words. “I can’t do this.” He shook his head, he barely believed his ears when she’d said that. It had always been a one-way street: Mia wanting to convince him they could be happy, and he always having doubts. But now the table turned. She was the one having doubts, and with a good reason. He’d made her suffer more than any of his enemies so what was he so shocked about hearing her wanting to break up? He sighed. Not that they had a relationship to break up to begin with.

He stopped, seeing light pouring out from the living room. He was pretty sure Mia was asleep and in no mood for a book or a glass of wine. Was it one of his guests?

He stepped inside and found himself face to face with Trevor Belmont’s ... ass. He raised an eyebrow – at least it was covered by his pants. Partly. He was rummaging the small bar cabinet under his father’s portrait.

“Khm,” Alucard tried to make himself visible, resisting the urge to do that by gently kicking him in the butt. If he fell forward, he’d just break the pricey bottles.

Trevor straightened and turned. “Ah, hmm,” he shrugged. “I was just, mmm...”

Alucard stepped to him. “Take a seat, Belmont, and let the host serve the guest.”

Trevor grunted nodding and went to the couch. Shortly, Alucard brought a bottle of cognac and a glass and sat down. He poured a portion for Trevor and motioned for him to taste.

When he did, he nodded appreciatively, “Drinks nicely, but stronger than what I normally have.”

“It ought to drink nicely, it’s a hundred-and-fifty-years old Armagnac from France.”

Trevor studied the glass of caramel colored beverage. “Your dad fucking knew how to live.” He swallowed the rest of the drink and was about to reach for the bottle when Alucard took it in his hand and relaxed against the back of the couch.

“You’d better get yourself a new bottle to keep up the pace,” he said and gulped down third of the bottle.

Trevor’s only reaction was a raised eyebrow, then shrugged and brought another bottle. When he returned, Alucard was sitting there with his arm on his propped-up knee and a feet on the low table in front of the couch. He sat next to him and opened the new bottle. They looked at each other and clinked the bottles together with a chuckle then drank.

“So,” Trevor started after a few minutes of silent staring into the fire.

“So, you’re a lot less interesting conversation partner than-” Alucard stopped short. It would be kind of interesting to restart their friendship with voicing the fact that he’d been talking to Trevor in his _head_ for a year.

“Than?”

“Than as I remembered,” Alucard finished in a low voice.

“Not that we talked much, did we?” Trevor mused sipping the bottle. “You always preferred pissing me off over having a genuine conversation.”

Alucard scoffed. “What was there to talk about for hunter and prey?”

“We did start off on the wrong foot, didn’t we?”

“Oh, we were always on the foot I wanted us on. And you never complained.”

“Yet, here you are, Alucard of Wallachia drinking like a fish with a Belmont.”

They looked at each other and chuckled. Alucard gulped from the bottle, and Trevor watched him with a raised brow.

“So is there a reason why you’re drinking the invaluable booze of your dad or-”

“Is there a reason why you’re drinking, Trevor?”

He shrugged. “It’s a Tuesday.”

“Hmm, that’s a fair enough argument. Especially that it’s Saturday.” He crossed his ankles on the table and spoke with his lips against the bottle. “Good enough for me.”

Trevor grunted and put the bottle between his thighs on the couch. He started drumming on it with his fingers absently.

Alucard started to feel the effect of the alcohol when he reached the halfway point of the bottle, and he felt his nerves relax in a way he’d never before experienced. It was an oddly pleasant sensation, one that his friend most probably liked to experience a lot, he thought studying Trevor. He was just looking into the flames. He had to admit, the damn Belmont was kind of handsome, no wonder Sypha fell for him despite the difference of their intelligence. Or maybe because of that fact exactly – she liked to be in control after all.

He looked into the fire. “So, you and Sypha...” he began not really sure what he wanted to hear.

“Mmm... Yes?”

“You married or...”

Trevor held his hand up. There was no ring.

“Does that mean you’re not married or that I should lend you the money to buy a ring?”

Trevor rolled his eyes. “You’re still the dick I remembered.”

A giggle escaped Alucard’s lips, and he covered his blush by raising the bottle to his lips.

“Well,” Trevor went on. “Sypha doesn’t want to be bound by an establishment of the Church, so we didn’t get married.”

“But she’s pregnant.”

“Yeah, we live in sin.”

They chuckled, and Alucard looked at him cautiously.

“And the two of you ... you’re happy, aren’t you?”

Trevor shrugged turning up a hand on the bottle. “Well, yeah. I mean there are the daily fights with night creatures and her unappeasable need to be constantly on the road. And yeah, she ... she really likes to think she’s the boss. It took me a while to figure out how to make her think it is so but keep the reigns in my hands.”

“Being with a strong girl can be challenging, for sure,” Alucard mumbled with his lips against the bottle.

“The girl we saved. In the prison, you said you loved her,” Trevor said a little hesitantly.

Alucard stared into the fire. What should he say? What should he say after the fight they had?

“I’m crazy about her,” he heard himself whisper and saw Trevor’s small smile.

“That’s ... that’s nice.”

Alucard shrugged. “I’m also totally fucking it up.”

“Hmm... that’s not so nice.”

“No. No, it’s not.”

“But is she feeling the same? I mean does she like you back?”

Alucard looked at him and nodded. “Yeah, at least for a long time, she did.” He shook his head and some words came that he never thought he’d be able to say so freely. “She was capable of loving the screw-up I’ve been this last year. And I’ve been doing nothing but grabbing every opportunity to scare her off, you know. And you know what? I might have gotten lucky this time. She was so pissed... And she had all the reasons for it. I mean, if I was her, I’d throw myself out too!”

“Mmm, it might be this slop, but I’m not following you. Why are you trying to scare her off if you’re crazy about her again?”

Alucard shrugged pouting. “That’s an excellent question. Probably, because I’m an idiot.”

“Other than the obvious, I meant.”

Alucard grimaced avoiding his friend’s gaze. “She... well, she said I’m afraid to be happy.”

“That might not be a stupid perception.” Trevor drummed on the bottle again.

“That’s ridiculous,” Alucard said looking at him with a frown. “Why would I do something as self-destructive as that?”

“Well, first off, you’ve never been the most life-embracing chap ever. I mean when we met, you were waking from a sleep that could have lasted who knows how long if it wasn’t for Sypha and me to wake you. Then, when we did away ... er, I mean respectfully helped your father over to hell, you wanted this Castle to be your grave.”

Alucard let out a long breath. “I’m sorry for having been a tad bummed after my mother died or after having to kill my father. And for having had some ... some issues after ... after you know, you and Sypha left. But it doesn’t mean I don’t want to be happy. I mean everybody wants that, right?”

“Sure, it’s just sometimes, when you spend some time at a shitty place in your life, you come to like that. And you think you’re happy whereas you’re actually not. Like me and Sypha. It was annoying as all hell that she wanted to change my comfortable life of being a lone tramp. But what was so bad in that change? I have a regular sex partner, I have someone who breaks the silence when it gets boring, I have someone who watches my back – in exchange for what? I have to wear clean clothes. Not such a big sacrifice after getting used to the smell of soap.”

Alucard laughed. “True.”

“Only downside: I get to drink less.”

“That’s not that bad on your liver.”

“What?”

Alucard waved. “Never mind.”

Trevor looked at him putting an elbow on the back of the couch. “So what are you screwing up with this girl?”

Alucard snorted. “What don’t I screw up.”

“Oh, come on. It can’t be that bad.”

“It’s worse. The short time I’ve been knowing her I’ve threatened her, shouted at her, was ready to actually kill her, and I got her into trouble by the simple fact that she’s my girl. Whereas she is not.” He sighed heavily. “We haven’t even got there.”

“She doesn’t want to.”

“No. She wants to – or at least, wanted to before throwing me out.”

“So _you_ don’t want to?”

“Oh, I want her more than you can imagine.”

Trevor drank leaning to the back of the couch. “Then you really are a loser. You both want it and yet you're sitting here getting drunk.”

“Fuck you, Belmont.”

“Why me, if your girl is sleeping upstairs?”

Alucard stared at him taken aback. How true. How true that perception was. He stood and staggered to the left. The bottle was still in his hand, and he studied it with a frown. It had some little of the cognac at the bottom. He shrugged. It wouldn’t hurt to get some more courage, he gulped it down and put the bottle on the table.

“Go get her,” Trevor grinned, and Alucard marched out of the room.

He opened the door to Mia’s room and shut it behind him. Mia sat up in the bed alarmed and disheveled. He stumbled a step forward then strode to the bed and sat opposite her. Before she could ask anything he took her by the arms and kissed her on the lips deeply.

Before he had a chance to lay her back down, she broke away with a deep frown. “You’re drunk?”

“Yes! No. I don’t know. I’ve never been drunk before, is this what it’s like?” he asked tilting his head.

“I don’t know, I’ve never been drunk either,” she said her frown turning into a concerned knit of her brows.

“You know. It’s not that terrible. It helps me say things. In fact, I’m wanting to say too many things at the same time. As if my mind was a chess board and all the pieces were knights. Jumping around. You know what I mean?”

“Not really.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He tilted his head and reaching out, he combed a strand of her hair from one side to the other. “It wasn’t on the proper side.” He leaned back a little. “Now, perfect. Perfect. I could paint you. I should paint you!”

“Adrian, you’re starting to make me worried. Or angry. I haven’t yet decided which.”

“Oh, yes, because I haven’t said what I’ve been meaning to.”

“Look, we both are tired. And you’re ... you’re drunk. Can’t it wait until tomorrow? I don’t think this conversation would be any help on our situation.”

“Yes, yes, it will!” he said taking her hands in his on impulse. “Mia, there’re so many things, so many things you should hear. So many things I want to say but it’s like they are just too big, I mean the things I feel, and they can’t take a shape. Not a shape that’s proper. That would do justice to them, do you understand?”

“No, Adrian, I-”

“Like how beautiful you are!” he went on cutting her off. “I mean, you define yourself by those scars. But they are nothing! When I look at you, I don’t see them. I see you. I see Mia, who is just, oh my god... And I can say you’re beautiful, but you’re not just beautiful, that word is just not good enough, you see? And-and that you’re so smart. Or how much I adore talking to you. You make even the most trivial conversation interesting, because you’re in it. And that you’re so beautiful. I mean I know I said that. But you’re beautiful in so many ways. One way is how a man perceives you and oh, god, if you knew how many times I picture you without clothes, and then I imagine us ... and ... no, this wasn’t what I wanted to say.”

She leaned to him and kissed him on the lips. It took him a moment longer to open his mouth and let her in, he was so stunned. When she pulled away and looked at him in the moonlight, her eyes were shining.

“I love you too,” she said silently.

“Did I say it?” he asked genuinely not knowing if he did.

“Not with the actual words.”

“Because I do. I just didn’t know if you do too, I mean ... I kind of did, I knew in my head, because why would you have held out hope for me for so long, and I don’t only mean during those three weeks. I mean, that you know how hopeless I am and yet you... well, until tonight. I haven’t a clue how you could have the strength to do that. Or why ... because you have every reason to throw me out again because yes, I’m a screw-up. A pathetic excuse for a human and an even more pathetic one for a vampire. You could do with so much better than me. So much! And yet I’m hoping beyond hope that you still want me because I love you! Sometimes I think this feeling will turn into some huge inexplicable entity that would walk these forests on its own legs and ... and then I think isn’t love supposed to be about wanting the best for who you love? And how can I ever be the best for you?”

She took his face in her hands, and he stopped talking.

“Look into my eyes, love. What do you see?”

“I see ... I see your soul.”

“And I see your soul. And I see souls of men before you who were you. And whom were loved by women who were me. Each time I look into your eyes. I know this isn’t the first time we’ve sought each other out. This isn’t the first life where we met. And won’t be the last. Don’t doubt yourself. You were meant for me.”

He crushed her in an embrace breathing heavily and felt her kiss his cheek and shoulder and stroke his hair. He took in a ragged breath. “Mia, don’t leave me,” he begged the way he wanted for so long.

“I’m right here,” she murmured.

He moaned and tightened his embrace. “No, you don’t understand,” he said breaking down in tears. “If you’re not with me I can’t draw a breath. I’ve never felt torture that’s like when I can’t be with you. I cannot lose you too! I cannot! Do you understand?”

She pulled away to look at him and stroke his wet cheek. “I’m right here.”

He sniffled and taking her hand from his cheek planted a long kiss on it. “Will you be my wife?”

“Adrian,” she started with a moved smile.

“I mean, will you be my wife when we manage to find a priest who’s willing to marry off the new Dracula and an ex-nun? And will you be my wife in all ways but name until then? Because ... I want you so fucking much. Oh, god, I shouldn’t have said that. Especially not like that.”

She laughed and pulling him in, kissed him on the lips again. Before he knew, they were kissing lying on the bed, he between her legs. He broke away.

“Is that a yes then?”

“No, I just thought it would be fun to make you all excited and then stop in the middle of things.”

He blinked at her trying to judge how serious she was.

She held his face. “But I meant what I told you tonight. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t go back to how we were before. I don’t want to feel I’m forcing you into this, and I don’t want to be blindsided either by thinking you want this whereas you’re still having doubts. It tears me apart, Adrian.”

“So this means you never actually broke up with me?”

She frowned confused. “Break up?”

“Yes, when you said you can’t do this anymore.”

She let out a short breath. “I was upset and exhausted and so mad at you...”

“And ... are you still mad?” he asked hesitantly.

She reached up and stroked his face. “You’ll need to find out,” she whispered bringing his head down to hers.

He kissed her on the lips melting into her arms. She was so warm and soft and smelled so good, and tasted so sweet, he just wanted to lose himself in all those sensations. He followed her jawline with tiny kisses to her ear and neck snuggling more comfortably into her embrace, and the world faded into a warm haze.

* * *

Alucard became aware of an ugly raspy sound coming from somewhere very close, and his eyes snapped open alarmed. He relaxed embarrassed when he realized it was the sound of his own snoring. He closed his mouth and licked his dry lips. He was awfully thirsty. Clearing his throat, he turned his head around squinting against the sharp morning light. He was in Mia’s bed, in the very middle, his limbs spread out and about. He frowned. Where was she? It was her bed after all. Everything was a bit foggy and that growing splitting headache didn’t help much in remembering.

“Good morning, sleepy head,” he heard from the side and sitting gingerly, he found Mia watching him from the armchair.

“Good morning,” he mumbled, and pulled his legs in to cross them. He looked down at himself. He was still wearing the opened shirt and his pants.

“You’re wondering what those are doing on you, I presume.” Her voice had a bit of a taunting edge to it.

“So ... So we didn’t er,” he felt his cheeks turning red, and he absently scratched his head.

“You fell asleep,” Mia said dryly. He didn’t know what to say to that, and she wasn’t finished. “It wasn’t a surprise given that you were drunk. But you fell asleep _on me_. And you’re slightly heavier than I am strong, so I had a bit of a trouble rolling you off me.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?” he asked in a tiny voice.

“You think I didn’t try.”

“Uhm,” he bit his lip.

“When I did manage to get you off, you spread out pretty much the way you just woke, and I finally decided on exiling to the chair. Which by the way is killing my back. How on Earth could you sit in this for a month?”

“I-I guess, I got used to it,” he said mortified for screwing up their night.

She studied his face for a moment longer then got up and stood by the window. His heart sank. She wouldn’t see a better view than when they’d left.

“I assume,” she said in a tired voice, “you don’t remember anything else either of last night. And we’ll continue where we’d left off ... before that.”

She was so sad. Almost as much as when she was mourning him. Last night. Yes, last night she finally got what she longed for: him completely honest and open about his emotions. The only time he was capable of when he was smashed.

He got out of bed and went to stand opposite her. She kept her gaze on the morning forest.

“I do remember some things,” he said softly, and she turned her head up to him. “I remember a pathetic loser drinking himself brave enough to finally be able to tell the girl he’s crazy about that he loves her. And that she was good-hearted enough not to kick him out of her bed right away. And that she-“

“She said she loves him back,” she finished with glinting eyes.

He smiled, then winced. “The loser is hoping that the girl didn’t change her mind because of...” he motioned to the bed, “you know, because the loser was being the loser he is.”

She laughed and threw her arms around his neck.

He held her close for a few moments stroking her back. “I’m so sorry for ruining our night.” He pulled away. “I promise you, your husband won’t be a drunkard. It was just the one time.”

She smiled. “You were sweeter than you think. Maybe I’ll get you drunk sometimes.”

He chuckled. “You’ll need a lot of booze for that. My metabolism works in a very different way a human’s does.”

“How?”

“Well, let’s just say that while Trevor drank an amount that equals to about four glasses, I had a full bottle. And he’s a practiced drunk.”

She frowned. “You drank with your imagined friends?”

“Oh, no, no they’re here! They’re actually here.”

“Trevor’s here?”

He blinked feeling a bucket of ice-cold water in his neck. “Yes. Yes, he’s here,” he said trying to squeeze the jealousy out of his voice, welling up so unexpectedly. “I almost forgot that you know him.”

“Are those them?” she asked pointing out the window.

Alucard looked out and saw Sypha and Trevor visibly arguing. If he listened carefully, he could make out their tones: Trevor was furious, Sypha tried to soothe him. They were heavily gesturing – mostly to the Forest of the Dead. He slouched.

“We’ll need to leave the happy reunion of the two of you for another time. I presume your fiancé is ready to pick a bone with me.”

Mia’s eyes widened. “I beg your pardon?”

“Just stay here,” he said going to the door, and picking his sword up from where it was propped against the wall, he left.

* * *

“Stop going berserk already,” Alucard heard Sypha’s voice from outside. “We need to ask him before accusing him of anything.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Trevor replied as Alucard stopped in the darkness of the hall to listen through the open gates. “Look at this! Hasn’t it occurred to you that he did not need our help in killing his father to save the world but so that he can replace his old man on the throne? Look at all these people! He’s the fucking new Dracula!”

Sypha let out a nervous breath. “Don’t you remember what he was like just after we did it? He was upset, he was crying.”

“Yeah, from where I’m standing, those could as well have been happy tears.”

“Trevor. Just stop and think for a minute before lashing out on him. You talked to him last night. He’s still the man we know despite what these stakes suggest.”

“Is he? Really? Did you expect this when we were heading home?”

“Why don’t you want to give him the benefit of doubt and ask him? I’m absolutely sure there’s a reasonable explanation.”

“Because the evidence points to him having lied to us, Sypha, you just don’t want to believe your own eyes. He recruited help to kill his dad, and now he’s building his own little agenda. How do you know that woman is not another vampire he’s teamed up with? Did we get to see her teeth?”

“Trevor...”

“No, I don’t want to argue about this anymore. You go to the village, and I stay and interrogate our so-called _friend,_ ” Trevor said clutching his whip.

Alucard stepped out in the light, and they stopped arguing. He looked into Trevor’s eyes, they reflected rage and disappointment. Sypha looked at him pleading and hurt. He bowed his head, his hands came up into fists. He knew they would be shocked, but to not even give him the chance to tell them about his last year before reaching a verdict…

“Alucard,” she said softly and tried to step to him, but Trevor grabbed her arm.

“Stay out of this, Sypha.”

Alucard walked down the stairs staring into his friend’s eyes. “At least we agree on one thing.”

Trevor took his whip in his hands. “Given our old friendship, I’m giving you a chance to explain this,” he said motioning to the stakes. “But think of every word you’re about to say, Alucard. Because I didn’t help killing a Dracula to create another one!”

“You’re threatening me, Belmont?” Alucard asked holding back a chuckle and pulled the sheet off his sword, leaving it levitating in the air. “You don’t want an explanation, you already have decided what I am.”

“Look at that! Look at what you’ve done to those people! To fragile humans you said you wanted to protect from your dad. You’re not giving me a hard time to make that decision, for fuck’s sake.”

“Boys, stop this,” Sypha stood between them.

“Sypha, I told you to stay out of it!” Trevor said pulling her aside.

She dragged her arm away furiously. “What do you think you’re doing? Both of you? Have you lost your wits? Don’t we have enough enemies to fight, you think we need to fight friends too?”

“I don’t see any friend here,” Alucard said circling them and stopping in the middle of the clearing. “Only a drunkard with a big mouth.”

“Look who’s talking,” Trevor growled standing opposite him, and raised his whip to strike.

Alucard disappeared and reappeared in the wake of the blast of Trevor’s whip. At the corner of his eye, he saw Sypha sit on the stairs with a tired sigh as Mia appeared in the doorway.

She gasped seeing them fight. “Oh, my god, they’ll kill each other!”

“Don’t worry,” Sypha waved then propped her chin on her fist. “They’re just working off some stress.”

Mia sat beside her. “Are you sure? This fight seems deadly!”

Alucard sent two fireballs toward Trevor and hit his whip with them. The chains heated up and Trevor dropped his weapon with a hiss.

“Oh-oh, look what an upgrade the damn vampire got,” Alucard taunted. “And what was your upgrade, Belmont? A second whip?”

Trevor snarled and drew his sword.

Sypha looked at Mia and extended a hand. “I’m Sypha, by the way. The man there is Trevor. We’re Alucard’s friends. Well, normally that is. When those two don’t act like cocks in the henyard.”

“I’m Mia. I’m... well, I’m not sure how to define myself in this equation,” she said adjusting her shawl around her neck and chest.

Sypha smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, I understand. We’re not married with Trevor either. Nobody’s judging you here for living in sin.”

Mia smiled back and nodded.

“Would you like some breakfast?” Sypha asked.

“Oh, I’m famished, but I don’t think we have anything to eat in the kitchen.”

“Let me take care of that.”

Sypha stood and conjured an enormous cube of ice high up in the air above the two men now wrestling on the ground. She then hit the cube with intense flames, making icewater splash in their necks. They let each other go, coughing and spitting water, soaked to skin.

“Hey!” Trevor rasped crawling to his feet.

“You want to kill us, woman?” Alucard said wiping his eyes.

“Wasn’t it the point to begin with? Now, enough of this!” Sypha ordered walking up to them with Mia on her heel.

“It wasn’t me who began it,” Alucard growled ringing his hair.

“But you didn’t stop it either,” Sypha told him with her fists on her hips. “Alucard. We are your friends. We’re worried about you! What the hell is this exhibition into your family’s past?”

“Or rather the future!” Trevor put in crossing his arms, but Sypha shushed him.

“What do you care?” Alucard burst out bitterly. “You come back after over a year, and you’re accusing me. Yeah, I killed them. You do that if people try to assassinate you or steal from you or burn your house down! But what do you care? You already decided that I did it out of spite!”

“Let’s pretend I believe you, but why put the corpses on display? The exact way your daddy used to!” Trevor asked.

“So that you can ask dumb questions, Belmont,” Alucard said crossing his arms.

Mia touched his arm and stepped next to him. “He did it to scare off those who’d try to come here and try to ravage this place,” she said in her silent voice. Trevor and Sypha looked at her, and Alucard let her take his hand as she talked. “Adrian did nothing wrong. People come here daily to try their luck to get to the presumed treasures of the Hold and the Castle. Among other things. He’s been trying to keep the promise he’d made you, to protect the Belmont Hold the best he could. But you can’t imagine how difficult a task that really is.”

Alucard squeezed her hand. “You don’t have to explain anything to them, they already decided it’s easier to judge me. No point in wasting your time on such _friends_ , Mia.”

“Wait a minute. Mia? As in Mioara Renard?” Trevor breathed fixating on her. Mia locked eyes with him, and he looked over at her gaping. “Is that really you?!”

“Yes, it’s me, Trevor,” she said with a slight tremor in her voice that made Alucard frown.

“I can’t believe it!” Trevor said and pulled her in for a hug – her hand slipping out of Alucard’s.

He never felt the kind of jealousy he did in that moment. Despite what Mia had told him about the two of them hating each other as a child, they surely didn’t seem to hate each other now. His eyes met Sypha’s who stood there somewhat caught off-guard by the turn of events.

Trevor held Mia at arm’s length. “God, you seemed familiar, but I just… I couldn’t wrap my mind around… I thought you died!”

“Yes, I thought you died too.” She stroked his cheek. “Look at you. You’re a grown man.”

Trevor smiled and kissed her knuckles. He turned to Sypha, still grasping Mia’s hand in his.

“We grew up together. Her dad was friends with mine, we both have monster-hunters in our ancestry, the Renards lived in the neighborhood too. When the good people purged the nobles, the Renards died out too. At least I thought so. I can’t believe you’re alive!”

Mia smiled at him tenderly. “And I can’t believe you’re alive. When I saw you in that painting in the living room-”

“Yeah, I find that kind of creepy,” Trevor put in with a chuckle.

“There’s a painting of you in the living room?” Sypha asked with wide eyes. “You found it in the ruins?” she asked Alucard.

He stood there with an impossibly red face, and Trevor answered her.

“No. There’s one of you too.”

“For real?” Sypha asked with an amazed chuckle.

Trevor looked at Alucard and went on in a placating voice. “It seems staking people wasn't the only hobby our vampire buddy here developed in the last year.”

Alucard squinted close to continue their wrestling match where they’d left off. “Isn’t there a part of your back story you’re forgetting Belmont? The two of you weren’t simply friends, were you.”

“Oh, uhm,” Trevor cleared his throat and looked daggers at him.

“They were engaged,” Alucard told Sypha acknowledging with an odd satisfaction that she was pretty hit by that information.

“Were they, now?” she asked looking at her man.

Trevor held his hands up. “Er, yes, kinda, but it was more than a decade ago. We were barely teenagers, our fathers decided on the matter,” he gabbled at her inquisitive arch of a brow. “And-and we didn’t even like each other, right?”

Mia smiled serenely. “Yes, we were fire and ice.”

“Well, there’s an interesting story there,” Sypha said. “One that I’d like to hear from my newest girlfriend, given that I didn’t hear it from my boyfriend.” She put an arm around Mia’s shoulders. “While you two naughty boys go and buy us some breakfast. Do you have enough coins?” she asked before Trevor could open his mouth to protest.

He grimaced and fumbled in his pockets. “Well...”

“You would have, if you haven’t gotten drunk on them last night, here,” she said handing him a few from her own pockets. “That should be enough. Now, get lost, we have some gossiping to do.”

“But I need a cloak, I can’t just enter the town as I am!” Alucard protested.

“What do you want to cover with a cloak? Your fangs? Here,” Trevor thrusted his own wet cloak in his hands. “Now, let’s get a move on. Your fancy fireballs stand no chance against the wrath of a hungry pregnant Speaker magician.”

* * *

Alucard was still fuming by the time they got back from shopping. He was nervous enough going in town in broad daylight, but he had to go there with the damn Belmont and had to leave Mia and Sypha alone to their gossips! What the hell did they want to talk about anyway? Were they comparing notes? On what? On him versus Trevor? Or Trevor versus Trevor? The latter was more likely, of course this dumbass got another smart girl enchanted by his charms. He squinted at Trevor as they walked up the stairs. If he could just figure out what they liked about that dirty little runt. Yes, he was handsome in a crude albeit sexy kind of way, and he could be warm and caring if he wanted to be – but _he_ could be all those things too! Why didn’t they notice? When they stepped into the kitchen, Sypha and Mia leaned close whispering ‘ _I told you so_ ,’ and they giggled looking at them. Trevor didn’t comment on the little scene, of course, it was possible he hadn’t even noticed. The idiot…

The idiot of course sat next to the girls, while Alucard started making an omelette. He tried hard to concentrate on cooking to divert his attention from the fact that how uncomfortable he was suddenly by his three guests chatting and laughing at the table while he was in the other end of the kitchen trying to be a good host.

“Do you need help?” he heard Mia and shook his head with a grunt focusing on the eggs.

“Oh, don’t even try, Mia, he’s still sulking,” Trevor said.

Sypha chuckled. “Well, am I wrong to think you two didn’t manage to kiss and make up on the way?”

“No,” Trevor said, “because a cat got the tongue of Princess Tantrum there, and he didn’t say a word.”

Alucard slammed the spoon down swirling to them. “How was I supposed to open up a proper dialog, if the only answer I could get to a casual question was a fucking consonant?”

“Wha?”

He started on a mocking voice. “When I ask, _should we buy six or eight rolls, Trevor?_ – Your reply? ‘ _Hmm._ ’ Or: _I think eight will just get dry on us. – ‘Mmm.’_ ”

“I don’t do that.”

Sypha laughed. “Oh, god, yes! Yes, you do do that!”

Trevor crossed his arms. “Really? Hmm…”

“I’m sorry, you’re right, you don’t always reply with a consonant,” Alucard went on sensing a weak spot on his prey. “There was also: _these eggs don’t look so fresh, don’t you think, Trevor?_ – The reply to that was?” He tilted his head. “ _Oh?_ – A singular ‘oh!’ Well, my apologies, that really is not a consonant.”

Sypha giggled on, “Oh, stop it, or I go into labor right here and now.

Trevor grunted annoyed. “Why is it that I always end up in the world against Trevor Belmont scenario even among friends? Mia, I hope you don’t join into this too. Mia?” his alarmed voice made Alucard turn to them, and he was hit by seeing her wiping her tears.

He went to her and squatting in front of her took her hand. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she breathed and sniffled. “Really, nothing, it’s just ...” she looked around with a weak smile. “It’s been such a long time I felt I was in a family.”

“Family?” Alucard asked. “But we’ve been pulling each other’s hair out.”

She nodded. “Yes, but you do that only when you love each other. When you know that you can argue freely because you won’t risk losing that love, it’s so strong.”

The three friends looked at each other stunned. Sypha put a gentle hand on Mia’s shoulder. “I guess sometimes we don’t realize just how lucky we are.”

They smiled at each other tentatively. Trevor pulled Sypha close, and Alucard gave Mia a short kiss on the lips. He then stood and went back to fix their breakfast feeling a warm glow embracing his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked writing this chapter, I think a drunk Alucard could be really cute on screen too. Especially with Trevor as a drinking buddy!
> 
> About Mia's surname: I do not want to make her Maria Renard. I just wanted to give her some connection to the canon, so she's more of an ancestor or pre-incarnation of Maria. Like this, they are bound through space and time with Alucard, and I find that a heart-warming thought that he's not forever so alone.
> 
> Thanks for kudos and feedback on the previous chapters - though none came for the last one... the sad life of a writer :( I kinda get the indirect criticism, I promise, I'll try to pick up the pace and let them finally hook up soon. :) I know, my stories are more for the introverts, but even thought, if you feel like leaving a few words, don't hesitate! <3 :)
> 
> Update: I convinced myself to show you something - I'm not very confident about it to be honest, but I did enjoy drawing it.
> 
> <https://www.deviantart.com/alexahorn/art/Drinking-buddies-843493009>
> 
> And here goes nothing... :)


	13. Chapter 13

“Do you remember your father’s creepy forge master?” Trevor asked sitting with Sypha and Mia at the table in the kitchen. He’d just started to recount their story of the last year while Alucard was finishing up making breakfast.

He turned the omelet in the pan and deeming it done, put it on a plate. “Which one?” he asked bringing the plate over to them. He sat next to Mia looking at Trevor and asked casually. “The one that had the hots for decomposing carcasses of pets, or the one that had the hots for my father?”

Trevor grimaced pressing his palms to his forehead. “God, is this how it feels when your brain boils? I fucking didn’t want to know any of that!”

“The decomposing carcasses part I get,” Sypha said. “We’re talking about forge masters after all. But how was this with you father again?”

“When I was around fourteen, my mother wanted to somehow make our social life, well… more lively, given that it was non-existent, and so told my father to invite his human friends. These two showed up. The one, called Hector – gray hair, pale skin, thin form – kept nagging me if I ever had a pet who died, because if I wanted, he could resurrect it for me. I just lost my puppy, so I was happy about the idea… at first. Let me not go into that any further. The other, called Isaac – somewhat stronger form, bald, dark skin – he completely ignored my mother and me to the point it was cringingly embarrassing. He only talked to father and barely ever took his eyes off him. You see, I was a kid, but I was not stupid. Suffice it to say, my mother didn’t try to socialize with father’s friends anymore.”

“Holy shit, and I thought I had a screwed childhood,” Trevor muttered.

“Wait a moment,” Mia put a hand on Alucard’s arm. “You’re saying this man is bald and has dark skin?”

“Yes, his name is Isaac.”

“I know him.”

“What?”

She let out a short breath bowing her head. “When I was tortured by the inquisition, he was there. He was the one telling Sola what to ask me.”

“What did he want to know?” Sypha asked touching her hand over the table.

Mia sighed shutting her eyes, and Alucard could tell it was painful to recall the memories. He took her hand, and she looked at him lost. “It’s so hazy. I remember that I wanted to convince them that you were dead. They didn’t want to believe it.”

Alucard leaned back in the chair. “Petar said the same. He said they wanted you from the beginning, wanted to know if I was alive, if we were married.”

“Something doesn’t add up here,” Sypha said.

“What do you mean?”

“This last year, we’ve been following Isaac to figure out his agenda,” Trevor said. “First, we found him in Styria, he met his old buddy there and they unified their armies. After that, he traveled alone to the south. The army followed, but it’s advancing much slower. We followed him to Opatija. But we never managed to figure out what he really was after. It seems it was you.”

“It’d make sense,” Alucard said silently. “He was blindly faithful to my father. And I killed his Master.”

“But then again, Isaac has a remote viewing mirror,” Sypha went on. “Why would he want to know if you were alive or not in the old-fashioned way, by trying to get the information out of Mia, if he could simply look into it and find you?”

Alucard felt heat rising to his cheeks. “Er, because he probably didn’t believe his eyes when he was looking for me and found a wolf instead.”

“What?” Trevor barked.

Alucard waved nonchalantly. “Long story. A spell backfired. A little. I turned into my wolf form, and then I couldn’t turn back.”

“For how long?” Sypha asked, the edge of her lips curling upward in astonished delight.

“Not long. Just for a few … weeks.”

“You were a wolf for _weeks_?” Trevor asked and laughed hitting his knee. “And I missed that, oh, shit, god hates me!”

Alucard watched his friends bemused. Sypha was at least trying to hide her giggles but Trevor… He grimaced. “Well, if you like, Belmont, I can turn into a wolf and feast on your intestines instead of my omelet.”

“Oh, no,” Trevor said having a hard time to swallow the waves of laughter. “Just keep on eating, it’s too good to be thrown away.”

“I’m glad you like it, especially, that it’s one of my father’s recipes,” Alucard said taking the fork back in his hand.

“Your father taught you to cook?” Sypha asked.

“Yes. My mother found the activity too time-consuming and boring. My father on the other hand had a myriad of recipes from all around the world.”

“Dracula and cooking? What did he make? Steaks out of a human thigh or paste of human liver? That would fit the cookery book of a vampire,” Trevor said chuckling.

“Not one’s that has a human wife,” Alucard replied in a low voice.

A heavy silence descended on them, and Alucard knew it was always staggering to think about how far his father had gone before his mother died. How far she’d brought him. It was all the more tragic how he turned back into his original self in a singular second in the wake of human cruelty.

He looked at Sypha. “You were telling me about Hector and Isaac. You’re saying they teamed up?”

“Er, yes. Back in Styria.”

“Working for vampires?”

“It would be logical to think,” Sypha said.

Alucard glanced away pondering. “My father waged his war on humanity to extinct humans _and_ vampires.” He looked at Sypha with a frown. “If they work for another vampire, they should have a very different agenda. I mean … he wanted to die. And he wanted to drag everybody else down with him. No one without a deathwish would want to extinct all humans. Especially not vampires.”

“True,” Trevor nodded. “It’s possible though that they want to control the human populace by slaughtering most of it down. And want to enslave the rest, so that whoever owns the remaining humans would control the remaining vampires.”

“There’s also another possibility, Alucard,” Sypha said in a low voice.

“What?”

“Both Isaac and Hector had the utmost respect for your father. It is possible they want to simply continue his work. Just out of respect.”

“But what would they gain on that?” Mia asked silently. “Dracula is dead. Finishing his ‘work’ would have no pay-off for anyone.”

“Except if …” Sypha started reluctantly.

“If he’s brought back from the dead,” Trevor finished.

“What?” Alucard uttered petrified.

His friends looked at each other then at him hesitantly. “Well…” she began. “A year ago, in the town of Lindenfeld, there was an attempt to resurrect him. By one of his night creatures.”

Alucard looked at them in consternation. “Attempt?”

“Yes, but …” she looked at Trevor and he went on.

“We saw him. He’s in hell. With your mother. To be honest, we’re pretty sure he doesn’t want to come back, he didn’t seem-”

Alucard sprang to his feet and stared at them with wide eyes.

“Hey, no need to get upset,” Trevor told him. “As I said he was-”

"My mother was with him."

"Yes," Trevor nodded grimly.

Alucard looked at Mia. “I couldn’t have known! That fact I couldn’t have known! He wasn’t in my head. He wasn’t in my head, Mia!”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Trevor asked in a tense voice.

Alucard was suddenly out of breath. “I saw him! He came here. He appeared to me. Not in flesh, just as if he was … well, as if he was a ghost. He warned me there are people who want to revive him.” He shook his head. “He said mother was with him, and I was outraged. But it’s true then.”

Trevor nodded. “Yes, it is.”

Alucard collapsed in his chair. Mia put a hand on his where it was on his thigh, but the touch was almost painful, and he pulled away. He looked into the concerned faces of his friends, and their looks burned into him. “I’m not crazy.” He looked at Mia. “I know you think so, but I’m not.”

“Adrian,” she whispered pleading.

“No one thinks you’re crazy,” Sypha said surprised. “He’s a powerful magician, why wouldn’t he have the power to appear for you?”

He could tell she didn’t understand why her implicit trust in his word was such a big deal to him. He looked at Mia with a frown. She just gazed back at him worried – she still didn’t believe him?

“All the more scary,” Sypha went on. “Who knows what else he could do if it wasn’t for the fact that your mother is with him, and he’s living happily with her in hell?”

“Yes,” Trevor said. “But think about it. It also means if these creeps want to revive him, he may resist them too.”

“They’d need a very strong binding magic to reach their goal,” Sypha nodded thoughtfully.

“Binding?” Mia asked.

“Yes. A kind of magic that would bind the powers of the revived demon or spirit to the one who revived them.”

“So that’s what they are looking for in the Hold,” Mia whispered stunned.

Alucard looked at her with a frown. “It means the people who sent you here to spy might also be employed by these two to find a spell that would achieve that.”

“To spy?” Trevor asked with a frown.

Mia nodded ashamed. “I originally came here to spy. To see if there’s anything useful in the Hold to practice occult magic.”

“You were helping these people?” he asked shocked.

“I …” she looked at Alucard pleading, and he watched her struggling with a distant look. He knew he should say something in her defense, but somehow no words came out of his throat. He recalled how it had felt when she admitted what she was _really_ doing there and … He turned his head away.

She looked back to Trevor. “I thought Adrian took the Hold by force. I didn’t know that you were alive, and you bequeathed it to him. I thought it was the right thing to help humans to get the Hold back from the vampire who took it from us.” Understanding dawned on Trevor, and Alucard could tell that he could very well empathize with her argument. The two vampire-hunter families…

“That was in the past,” he said in a hard voice. “The present is much more important. And the present situation is that the Hold has been without a guard for the last three weeks, while we were in Opatija.”

“They might as well have found what they’d been looking for,” Trevor said stunned.

“If they did… that’s too big,” Sypha said staring into mid-distance. “I mean, how could we stand up against two armies of night-creatures _and_ Dracula?”

“Don’t get upset just yet, we don’t know,” Trevor said soothingly.

“Let’s find out,” Alucard said standing.

* * *

They walked to the Hold, and from the broken makeshift lift, it could be suspected that there had been some unwanted visitors while they were away. Alucard quickly fixed the lift, and they descended. But none of them were prepared for the destruction that greeted them downstairs when he turned on the lighting.

The books were lying in enormous piles between the cases, some torn, some even burned, and Alucard wondered how the whole Hold didn’t get burned down as it was. The index was lying on the floor open, its pages torn and crumpled. The bones of the dragon skeleton scattered, along with the other relics and artifacts from the glass cabinets. He was quite sure many items were missing. He slouched seeing the skulls of the killed vampires piled up in a darkened corner. He walked to them and squatting, took one in his hand. As if they hadn’t suffered enough humiliation already…

He then heard Mia’s soft crying. She walked ahead taking in the devastation in deep distress. He put the skull down and stood, but then Trevor appeared next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. Mia snuggled into him and sobbed. He frowned and took a step toward them, but he felt a hand on his and looked at Sypha confused.

“Leave them alone, Alucard.” She slid her hand down his arm, to take his hand. “It’s as if they’ve lost their home a second time.” They could do nothing but watch their loved ones in pain.

When Trevor let Mia go, they walked up to them. She looked around still fighting her tears.

“My grandmother spent her entire life here. The index there, that’s her life’s work. She began from a much shorter version. She alphabetized the books, she... She lay down the foundations of a modern library. And now …” She shook her head, her hands clenching into fists. “And we consider vampires to be barbaric. To be animals. Look at this! It’s not vampires who did this.” Alucard had never seen her as furious as in that moment as she went on. “If those forge masters plan to exterminate humanity, I say, so be it! We don't deserve any better!”

Sypha put a soothing hand on her arm. “There will always be humans who cannot value knowledge. Who’ll burn books and persecute Speakers. Most people are not like that, and I’m sure you know that because you’re coming from a family who value all those things.”

Mia bowed her head and covered her mouth with her hand. She wrapped herself up in her sorrow and Alucard recognized that look from his own experiences. He knew what it was like not to let anybody reach you. In that devastating moment, he felt he wouldn’t be enough to console her. He bowed his head.

“First things first,” Trevor said on a shaken up voice so unlike to him. “We need to find out somehow if they managed to find a spell that would resurrect Dracula. I don’t know how to go about it, but we need to do it.”

Sypha nodded. “I’ll check the index. You three look around and check how big the chaos _really_ is. It might be there’s less damage than it seems.”

“What do you mean, Sypha? Just look around,” Trevor said.

“I mean, if you were a thief, and you were looking for something. Would you bother bringing the books from the far end of the Hold here and pile them up – say – in that corner? No. You’d just knock them off their shelves, but they’d more or less remain where they originally belonged.”

“That’s not impossible,” he said on a more silent voice .

Mia walked off wordlessly, and Trevor went after her with Alucard on his heel. Then he heard Sypha’s soft moan, and he turned back to see that she was struggling to get the index back on the lectern. With her rounding belly, it was a more complicated task than it seemed. He stopped and was about to call to Trevor but then growling under his breath went back himself to help her.

“Thank you,” she said when he put the huge book up on its place. “I always said you were the nicer from the two of you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Did you now? It seems women like rude men then,” he said looking after Mia and Trevor.

“We need to be mature about this, Alucard. We don’t have much of a choice.”

He looked at her confused and she went on.

“They share a past we cannot be a part of. Mia talked about Trevor with a great deal of nostalgia, while we were alone. I’m sure he feels the same way towards her. They knew each other before they became the people we fell in love with. It binds them in a way we cannot grasp.”

Alucard scoffed. “So you’re dealing with your jealousy by rationalizing it.”

Sypha grimaced gazing away. “Am I bit hurt that my man is giving his attention to another woman while I’m here pregnant with his child? Yes. Am I going to tell him about it? No. Because I trust him. And he has a right to have an own family. And in a sense, Mia is part of the family he lost. Of course, he wants to spend some time with her. And she with him. We have no choice but to accept that, we cannot compete with that. And must not.”

“Well, we see things very differently then,” he said crossing his arms.

She mirrored the posture with a mock frown. “How do _you_ see it then?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Sypha,” he said taking a few paces away. “Maybe like I’m a cold spot in the room,” he locked his gaze with hers. “Like it’s lonely even when you’re standing next to me.”

“You heard. That night…”

“What did you think? In that silence, I could have heard a pin dropped.” He bowed his head and she put a hand on his arm.

He pulled away. “With Trevor, it’s different, isn’t it. You can reach him, touch him and see into him. He made you feel you are in good company. And he’s making Mia feel the same thing. In one thing you’re right, I cannot compete with him, and never could.”

“I never meant to hurt you with my words.”

“It’s not your words that hurt, Sypha. It’s the frustration that I don’t know what more to do. The more I give Mia, the less it seems compared to what I should be giving her. Exactly the way it was with you. I couldn’t be good enough for you no matter how hard I tried. And now I’m measured to him again.”

“I was already in love with Trevor, and no one is measuring anything, Alucard. If you feel that way, you’re expecting too much from yourself.”

“To be normal is too much?”

She chuckled. “Define normal to a Speaker unmarried to a vampire-hunter, talking to a vampire.” She took his hand, and he let her this time. “Give her what you have in your heart. You have so much to offer, you just hold yourself back. Let your walls crumble. Let her in.” She smiled tenderly at him. “We talked about you too. Her eyes glinted, and she blushed whenever you came up. It was so nice to see.”

Alucard sighed and shrugged slightly. “You say so?”

“I think she feels very deeply about you. Try to focus on that instead of being so anxious.”

He grimaced. “Do I have any other choice?”

Sypha laughed. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

He walked back toward where Trevor and Mia disappeared between the tall book cases. Maybe Sypha was right, and he was just being paranoid. After all, who did he not trust? Mia, who was desperate for hearing him say he loved her in the morning, or Trevor whose pregnant girl was just a few book cases away? It really was a ridiculous idea…

“Were you married?” he heard Trevor getting near where they stopped between the tall book cases. “The ring on your finger.”

“Oh, this?” Mia replied and Alucard silently moved closer to watch them from behind a case. “I used to be a nun.”

“A nun?” Trevor gaped. “You?”

“Yes, for a long time in fact,” she said with a sad smile. “I was expelled a few months ago.”

“Because of Alucard.”

“Because of … not wanting to help the people of the Church who wanted to get into the Hold. I don’t even know why I’m wearing this anymore.” She squatted to the pile of books in the corner and looked through them absently. “Maybe Sypha was right. These books do belong on these shelves.”

Trevor nodded picking up a few of them and started packing them on the shelves. Alucard thought it was more to occupy his hands than to really try to make some order.

“I can’t picture you as a nun,” Trevor said chuckling.

“Why?” Mia asked smiling at him.

“Mia Renard? Who had to make penitence almost every week for bringing a book to church and reading it in secret during the mass, turned into a pious nun? Can’t imagine that.”

“The pot calls the kettle black, you were as bored as I am and read my book from behind me.”

Trevor stepped to her resting his elbow on an empty shelf. “You knew?”

“Or course I did. Sometimes it drew me crazy because I felt I had to wait until you finished the page too before turning it, and you read slower than me.”

Alucard raised an eyebrow. Slower. He wasn’t sure Trevor could read at all…

Mia looked at Trevor with a concerned knit of her brows. “Why do you let your friends think you’re not educated? Up until the age of twelve you got the best education there is in Wallachia.”

He shrugged. “It wasn’t something we explicitly discussed. They knew I don’t read magic and so they were the ones researching for the locking spell for Dracula’s Castle. I’d only have been in the way if I poked my nose in their business.”

“Even Sypha doesn’t know you used to like reading?”

“Tell a Speaker you like books? I like sleeping beside her more than books, Mia,” he said with a chuckle. “Besides, Sypha is a very smart girl, compared to her I’m only around to take off things from the top shelf.”

“I don’t think she’d mind knowing you used to like to read.” She rested her back against the shelves. “I remember you had that little treehouse up on your tree. And you used to hide some books up there too.”

“Oh god, yes, I almost forgot. I hid mostly stuff your grandma wouldn’t have approved of me reading. Or anyone with a proper Catholic education.”

Alucard held back a snort. So maybe he wasn’t so wrong about Trevor having that book about penises, Sypha had found, under his childhood bed.

Trevor went on. “Once you climbed up thinking I hid one of your books there.”

“Yes, and I found all that nasty stuff,” Mia said on a giggle, then went on with a mock-frown. “You were so pissed, you pushed me off the tree, and I sprang an ankle. My mother was beside herself.”

“And my father was … phew… livid. The cane broke on my back when he punished me for it.”

“He was a strict man, wasn’t he.”

Trevor nodded and silence descended on them for a moment. “It’s been long since I last thought of him. Even longer since I talked about him.”

“You don’t talk to Sypha about your parents?”

He shrugged. “What’s there to talk about, Mia? They’ve been gone for more than a decade. There isn’t even a grave to visit. Do you talk about your parents to Alucard?”

Mia bowed her head. “No. Not that I didn’t tell him about some of the past. It’s just…”

“Some things are better left buried in the haze of memory.” They both gazed into mid-distance and Trevor went on in a strangely silent voice. “What we had then will never come back. What we thought our future would be like … it turned into ashes that night with the Estate.”

Mia covered her mouth trying to hold back a sudden sob. Trevor wordlessly pulled her in and took her in his arms. She held onto him tightly. “How stupid kids we were,” she moaned. “Why did we keep on picking on each other and driving each other crazy over the most irrelevant things? What was the point at all?” She sniffled. “How could we have been so unaware of being so lucky for living the life we had!”

“We did have some fights, didn’t we?” Trevor murmured with a small smile, running his fingers through her hair.

She chuckled tearfully. “Oh, god the names I’ve been calling you.”

“My favourite was obtuse wild-boar.”

“And in exchange you’d always pull my pigtail!”

“Hmm, I did that because I had the biggest crush on you.”

She pulled away and Alucard could tell, she had no idea about it. He felt his blood draining from his cheeks when he saw how close their faces were – how close their lips got. Trevor wiped her tears away with a thumb and leaning close planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

He then pulled away and let her go. “It is the past now. We have a good present. People to love. Nostalgia just poisons everything. It’s better to put it all out of our minds. At least, I’ve been doing that in the last decade or so.”

“I never really linger in the memories either, but seeing you again… It’s just… everything is coming back and …” She seemed lost and confused, and it tore at Alucard’s heart.

Trevor nodded understandingly and smiled. “Maybe we can tell them a few of the better stories. Like when I hid a frog in your pocket?”

She chuckled. “Maybe… Maybe…” she repeated gazing at the pile of books – not seeing them. And her smile disappeared.

“What is it, Mia?” Trevor asked silently.

She took a long breath running her hands up her arms. “Nothing, it’s nothing…” Alucard could tell it was definitely something, and it seemed Trevor saw that too. He turned her to him.

“What did that idiot do?”

Mia looked up at him confused. “What do you mean?”

“Alucard. I could see there was something up when he looked at you and told you not to think he was crazy. That look could have burned a hole in steel.”

“It’s not something I want to talk about,” she said in a low voice and picked up a book absently. “He … Our relationship has been a stormy one ever since we’ve known each other.” She put the book on the shelf, keeping her gaze at it. “He’s struggling with his past, with his trust issues, with his guilt, with his fear of his cursed bloodline bringing danger over my head too.”

“Aha. And where are _you_ in this?”

She turned back to Trevor with a frown. “Where are you in your relationship? Besides taking off things from the top shelf?” She shrugged turning back to the books again. “I’m trying to be there for him the best I can. The way you’re there for your girl in things she’s lacking. What else can we do? What else can a good partner do?”

Trevor stepped to her and made her look into his eyes. “Mia, Sypha and I had some… unbalance in our relationship, true. She can be really bossy, and I used to be too passive, and it took me a while to get used to the fact that I’m not a lone tramp anymore. But we worked through those things. Alucard is an ego-maniac bastard. A spoiled only-child who was the center of the universe while his parents were still alive. All his life, everything went his way, up until when his mother died, and he realized his fate was to kill his father. Apart from that episode, he is not used to the world not working to serve all his wishes. You must not feed that trait of him.”

“It’s not like that, it’s …” she bowed her head.

“So how is it then?”

“He’s like a fistful of sand. When I think I got a hold on him, he slips through my fingers. In the morning, he finally told me he loves me, and not one hour later, he closed up again, shut me out. Completely, as if I wasn't even there.”

Alucard was hit by that. When did he… and it then came to him. She tried to take his hand when they were talking about his father, and he pulled away. He didn’t let her console him, he didn’t even let her near him. But it was just so second nature to deal with everything alone! He didn’t even notice her being hurt over it.

“I don’t know why he does that,” she went on. “Is it because he’s angry at me or because he’s simply the kind of person who could only be close to his mother and after she died so suddenly and tragically… I do not know. I just know that I don’t even dare to broach the subject because I’m constantly scared that I’d chase him off even more.”

“You can’t keep on walking on eggshells in a healthy relationship. We wouldn’t be together with Sypha if I was going on a sulking session every time she tells me not to drink so much.”

She hugged herself. “So then maybe our relationship will be different from yours. Maybe I just have to get used to the thought of feeling lonely from time to time, if I want to be with him.”

“Or he could change.”

Mia shook her head. “It wouldn’t be right of me to expect him to. That’s not love.”

“But if he doesn’t make you happy.”

“He does make me happy, Trevor. When he lets me close, I’m the happies I’ve ever been in my life. But then there’s a changing of the guards, and he’s a different person. Someone I don’t recognize at all. Someone who stakes people to scare others away. Someone who lashes out to scare me away. Maybe it’s because he’s not fully human. And if it’s so, I have to accept that. Because that’s who he is. And I want to be with him.”

Trevor put a gentle finger under her chin and turned her face to him. “Just remember one thing: he’s the luckiest bastard to have you. And that now, you have somebody to kick his pompous ass if he hurts you. So just come to me, if he does, alright?”

Alucard chose that moment to step out from behind the case. “Actually, those are two things, Belmont. One and two, can you count that far?”

Trevor let Mia go, and as she took a step to the book case, Alucard frowned seeing her guilty look.

He looked at Trevor. “Though I’m aware of the former fact, you’re wildly exaggerating about the latter. Maybe Mia should be made aware of that before running to you to complain about me. You may not survive kicking my pompous ass, and I’m sure she’d be beside herself to lose you. Again.”

Trevor picked up a few books and putting them on the shelves shot him a dirty look. “Good job trying to prove that you’re not the dick you used to be.”

“Speaking of dicks, Belmont, where were you while I was helping your heavily pregnant lady, when she was trying to lift the index alone?” At Trevor’s bemused frown he went on. “Right. It was much more important to take a walk down memory lane, hand in hand with your fiancée. Here, in this cozy, dark little corner.”

Trevor slammed down a book and glared at him. “Stone the fuck up and say what you mean. You think I fucked your girlfriend in the last three minutes while we were alone? Is that it?”

“You have a big mouth as always, but would you ask that question in front of Sypha?”

Trevor motioned toward where they left her at the index. “Be my guest and tell her about your suspicions. Go on, nobody’s stopping you.” He stepped up to Alucard. “I have nothing to hide from her. I love her, and she knows it. And she trusts me and trusts my word. Because that’s how a relationship works, Alucard. How about yours? You’re spitting jealousy so blindly you don’t even notice you’re hurting Mia. Because it’s always about you. And where are her wishes? Her happiness? I’d bend over backwards to make Sypha happy. What do _you_ do to make Mia happy, Alucard?”

“Stop it, Trevor,” Mia cut him off stepping in front of him. Alucard glared at her frustrated. “Adrian,” she said pleading. “We were simply talking.” She reached out to touch his hand, “There’s nothing-” He pulled away before she reached him. She looked at him shocked and hurt and let her hand drop to her side. He frowned seeing her expression.

His gaze moved to Trevor’s who rolled his eyes seeing the exchange, and he suddenly felt he hated it all. He hated how easy Trevor could get along with her, how well he understood her, how easy it was for him to let her in, and how impossible it seemed for himself to act even in a remotely similar way. He just couldn’t be anywhere near them.

He disappeared and soon found himself back at the Castle. He paced around aimlessly like a trapped animal in the forest for an hour. When he grew even more frustrated, he turned back to the Castle. A gray fog was growing around it, swallowing the dark steeples and making his Forest of the Dead stick out of it like drowning sailors in the stormy sea. He was about to go inside but stopped short between the mummified corpses of Sumi and Taka.

Yes, he had let _them_ close. Much closer than he’d ever expected them to get when he met them. And they betrayed his trust. Worse than betrayed, they made him vulnerable, helpless and needy for their love and tenderness, and they turned it all against him. In a way, it was worse than his fate as a father-killer. When the deed was done, and he started to live his solitary life in his Castle, he thought, he was over the biggest ordeal of his life. With killing his own father he had hit rock-bottom and nothing could ever hurt more or find him more unprepared. And then _they_ came. And they indeed made him abandon all hope.

So how did Mia fit into this? She didn’t simply want him. She wanted him to let go of all that had happened before her. She wanted a clean slate with the man she saw in him. But the man she saw was so much better than he actually was. He turned to look at all the corpses around the Castle, now no more than skeletons in tight sacks of dried skin with the wind whistling through their ribcages. It was time to grow up and find the man Mia loved. Find Adrian Tepes in Alucard of Wallachia whom he’d lost somewhere maybe in the catacombs of Gresit so long ago. Along with his hopes for a happy life.

He got himself a shovel and started to dig at the edge of the clearing.

A heavy rain started to fall and dark clouds buried the mountains into a hopeless gloom. Alucard was struggling with the dirt turning into mud under his shovel by the minute. He wiped his forehead and kept on digging until the hole was deep and wide enough to accept two dozens of corpses. He then brought some duffel bags and got to work on the stakes. He wrapped each corpse in a bag, tied them tightly and then tore the stake down to roll it into the mass grave. By the time, his three friends arrived back, he was covered in mud and gore and sweat. The rain was trickling down his face and back from his soaked hair. He glanced at them stopping in the doorway and saw that Mia walked up to him despite the mud and the pouring rain.

“Go back in,” he told her shoveling the dirt back on the grave. He still didn’t feel quite up to looking at her after what transpired in the Hold.

“Adrian, you’re soaked to skin. Come inside, this can wait. Please.”

He swirled to her gasping. “You wanted me to get rid of the stakes. You’ve been begging for it for weeks. Now I’m doing it or never. So leave me the fuck alone!” He was surprised hearing himself. He didn’t want her to leave him alone. He was doing this for her.

“You’re still angry because I talked to Trevor, I-”

“No! I’m angry because you don’t talk to me.” He dropped the shovel with a mirthless chuckle glancing up at the skies. “God, if I only knew what you girls worship about him so much? Is that the stink of beer? Or his filthy mouth? His unkempt hair? You know it was quite enough to digest that Sypha chose him, but now you?”

“ _Chose_ him?” Mia repeated incredulously. “She had a choice between Trevor and … you?”

He stepped up to her glaring in her eyes challengingly. “Oh, yes, did I forget to mention I used to kind of like her? See that is how it feels to hear something like that.”

“And now you’re getting back at me for Trevor having liked me when we were children?” she frowned visibly getting desperate. “Grow up, Adrian, it was a lifetime ago.”

“When he held you, it didn’t quite seem that way.”

She gasped. “You-you watched us?”

“Yes, and just don’t be embarrassed about it, alright? In fact, I’m giving you my blessing. Just go and join the two of them. I’m sure Sypha will be happy to find herself pregnant in Trevor’s little harem.”

She slapped him as hard as she could and though he barely felt it, it was stunning to see her do something like that. It then dawned on him what left his lips. She’d been a slave in a harem for years, and now the man she loved gloated about it.

“Fine. You got what you wanted,” she said in a low trembling voice. “When they leave, I’ll leave with them and you can be all alone again. The way you so want to be, Alucard of Wallachia.” She swirled around and stormed inside.

He found himself on his knees, his hand covering his face, almost as if he wanted to keep his remaining sanity in his head. He had no idea what had possessed him to say those things. He never meant any of it, it just came out pouring right out of the bottomless pit of bitterness that was in place of his soul. The rain stopped, and he was still crouching there helplessly. The sun glinted sharply off the puddles formed on the half-buried duffle bags.

He heard a shovel cut into the ground right next to him. He looked up and saw Trevor looking down at him leaning on the wooden handle.

“Are you in my head?” Alucard mumbled quite sure it being so.

Trevor snorted. “God, I hope not. I’ve seen enough of hell already.”

Alucard staggered to his feet feeling heat rising to his cheeks. Not that it mattered how insane he looked in front of his once-friend anymore. Were they _ever_ friends at all?

“I don’t need a hand,” he muttered going on with burying the corpses.

“Lucky I didn’t come to give you one then,” Trevor said, and with that, swung the shovel and hit him on the back of his head full-force.

The world went black for a moment, and Alucard realized he got coldcocked by the blow and fell among the corpses. He pushed himself up into a sitting position still dizzy, and Trevor stood above him with a smirk.

“I guess Mia’s slap was the bite of a mosquito, so I thought I’d knock some sense in your head with this instead.” He raised his shovel to swing it again, but before it reached Alucard’s head, he leaped out of the shallow grave, stopped the motion mid-air and pulled the weapon out of Trevor’s hand with a jerk.

He broke the tool as if it was a dry twig on his knee. “You want to knock some sense into my head, Belmont? How about me doing it to you?” He appeared in front of Trevor and punched him as hard as he could. In a moment, they were wrestling in the mud, and he grabbed his collar.

“Isn’t one smart and beautiful woman enough for you, you son of a bitch? You need to take the one who came to love me?”

“You think I want Mia?” Trevor asked and gave him a breathless laugh.

“I saw how you held her. I saw how you looked at her.”

“And how did I look at her, asshole?” Trevor punched him and rolled him under him.

“You wanted to kiss her,” Alucard said on a grunt fighting back.

“Of course I did!”

Alucard stopped short glaring at him shocked from above him. Trevor went on.

“Who wouldn’t? She’s beautiful, she’s sad, and she just told me how lonely she felt with her man. I’d have to be crazy not to want to kiss her in that moment.”

“And you had a crush on her.”

“Glad your hearing is not impaired.”

Trevor rolled him around and tearing at his hair pinned his head to the ground. He looked into his eyes panting. “I didn’t kiss her, you idiot, and never will. I have my own family, I’d never want to jeopardize that or take the chance away from Mia and you to have one yourselves. Try to keep this in that infinite vampire memory of yours.”

Alucard kicked him off of him, and they sat in the mud gasping and glaring at each other, dirty to the ear.

“She wants to leave with you,” he said surprising himself that his voice broke saying it.

Trevor wiped the dripping mud mixed with his blood from his chin.

“She doesn’t want to leave, she’s just pissed as all hell. Listen to me, Alucard, because I won’t tell you twice. Mia loves you. If your dead, vampiric heart worthy of a stick in it is capable of requiting that love at all, don’t let her ever having to wonder if you do. And everything will work out.” He staggered to his feet and held out his hand. “Come now, let’s finish this shitty work and then let’s clean up. Sypha will not let us even in the vicinity of the Castle as dirty as we are now.”

Alucard stared into his eyes and then grasped his hand and let him pull him up. Trevor held his hand in his for a moment firmly before letting go and getting to work.

* * *

Alucard strode on the dark corridor to his basement room with a single towel around his waist. They’d cleaned up in the creek with Trevor, and he gave a towel to him as well in the laundry room quickly before they knocked into one of the girls wandering around in a birthday suit. They then said good night and parted ways. Walking lazily, he realized he was thoroughly exhausted. He couldn’t wait to stretch his back in his coffin already.

A weight lifted from his heart after talking to Trevor. In hindsight, it seemed totally ridiculous how jealous he was even an hour before. He had to admit the damn Belmont really was his friend. Not just a friend, but the best friend he ever had – the only friend he ever had apart from Sypha and Mia. He was crazy not to trust him. He sighed. He was even more crazy not to trust Mia.

God, he did it this time! What did he tell her… She was so hurt, so upset. How could he be such an idiot? The only thing she should ever hear from his lips was how much he adored her. And every second sentence he uttered in the last 24 hours was hurtful or angry. If she had a chance to choose Trevor over him, he’d even tell her to do so, he felt so ashamed of his performance of the day.

He opened the door to his room. God he’d forgotten what a mess he’d left here. Laundry piling in a chair, his desk full of clutter, his coffin open, the bedclothes in heaps. He stepped inside and stopped short. Mia’s fragrance was in the air. He frowned and went on to light a candle. She was nowhere to be seen.

“You’re an idiot, why would she be here?” he muttered looking around in the semi-darkness. His heart sank. What if she had been here? What if she had been here to leave a note that she was leaving forever?

He absently took the towel off from around his waist and after drying his hair with it, dropped it on the back of a chair. He looked through his desk. There was no note. But she probably was looking for him for some reason. He slouched. Did he really want to know what that reason was? Maybe she didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye. He did save her life after all. Yes, from an injury she took for him. He sighed. If she was leaving, she should just do it. No regrets, no looking back and no goodbyes.

He stared into the mirror. “You should be begging her on your knees to stay,” he muttered then turned away. Was there a point? If he did, and she stayed, he’d hurt her the next second, and the whole vicious circle would start all over again.

“So why don’t you beg her?” he heard from under the heap of bedclothes in the coffin, and he leapt back a foot with an ultrasonic shriek that surprised even him.

“Holy shit!”

The next second the cover moved, and he saw Mia lying on her side snuggled into his pillow visibly half-asleep. She frowned with a cranky moan and sat up gingerly in the coffin. The thin cover slid off her body. She was completely naked. He stared at her petrified, his jaw nailed to the hardboard floor. He was so shocked that it took him a moment to realize he was all naked too. His face turned furiously red and he covered his man parts with his hands.

She, on the other hand, just watched him with a small amused smile and made no motion of wanting to hide her nudity.

“Wha-wha-what’s this? What are you doing in my bed?” As soon as the words left his lips he wished he possessed an extra foot to wedge it between his teeth. _What you idiot. She came to play strip-rummy._

Mia straightened her back and glanced down at herself then back at him with a thoughtful pout. “Let’s see. You acted like a raging lunatic all day, you de facto called me a slut for spending five minutes alone with my childhood friend, then you sarcastically joked about me joining a harem, knowing full well I used to be a sex-slave. And now, I’m in your coffin naked. So what this is, is undoubtedly your imagination.”

He let out a short breath. “Of course…” He nodded standing there slouching. Of course, it was. He let his hands drop to his sides.

“So why are you still standing there?” she asked. “You got me where you’ve wanted me to be for quite a while now – and as a bonus, you’re not drunk, so hopefully, you’ll not sleep through it.”

He grunted nodding. Right. Still it was just ... He went to the coffin and opened its side. She made room for him to sit, and he did, perched up on the edge opposite her, looking into her eyes. “You know. I thought you’d appear later.”

“Later.”

“Later. When she’s already left with Trevor and Sypha. And when they appear again. Their head-versions that is.”

“Oh. Does it make a difference?”

“I kind of feel I’m cheating on her, if I now...”

She chuckled surprised. “With her head-version?”

“Sounds crazy, right?”

“From a crazy person? It sounds perfectly logical.”

He smiled and somehow felt more cozy than ever before with Mia. His guards were down. The way he’d last allowed them to be on that catastrophic night with Taka and Sumi but not ever since.

“As long as I’m here, and you don’t want to use the opportunity,” she said sliding her hand down her chest between her breasts. Then caught his hungry gaze. “You might as well say some things to me.”

“Things?”

“Things you never say to her. You can say them now.”

“How do you know there are such things?” he asked then cleared his throat embarrassed. “Of course, you’re in my head.”

She smiled. “Yes. In your head. And I could extract that knowledge too, of course. But I feel you want to _say_ some things.”

He nodded. “I don’t think I ever could to her.” He sighed. “She thinks I’m a much better person than I really am. And … and sooner or later she’d have been disappointed if she stayed with me.”

“Like how?”

“Like understanding that I’m half-vampire. That even though I know it’s wrong, but I did enjoy killing and staking those people. It’s not like I would do that to someone who doesn’t deserve it. But … I am a predator at heart.”

“Yet you eat only fish, and don’t kill other animals.”

“That’s different. I don’t have that kind of hunting instinct for animals like I have for some humans. It’s not surprising. Vampires hunt humans not animals for food.”

“I see.” She motioned with her hand. “Go on.”

“You see, she thinks of me the way she used to think about Fangs. She was treating a savage, enormous wolf that I use as a weapon for god’s sake, like a cute little puppy. And it was a huge mental and physical effort to protect her from that monster. The same applies to me. She accepts me as Adrian Tepes. And I love her for it because that is a part of me that my mother used to love. That is the good part of me. But there is also Alucard of Wallachia. She … she would never accept him. And I love her for that too, because apart from my mother, no one ever held me so high. But it also stands between us.”

“And you’re scared if you told her all that, she’d think you’re ungrateful.”

“Yes. Wouldn’t you?”

She chuckled jabbing a finger at him. “I’m in your head, remember?”

He nodded gazing away and then felt a gentle touch under his chin. She turned his face to her.

“So show him to me!” she whispered.

“What?”

“Show what’s Alucard like.” She motioned to the coffin. “I know he likes sleeping in a coffin better than in a bed. What else?”

“I can’t frighten you, can I,” he mused and the next moment, grasped her arm leaning close to her with a vampiric hiss, showing his fangs.

She gasped startled, and it was dizzying to smell her fear – and see her glance at his mouth hungrily. He closed the distance and kissed her. Savagely like the famished vampire he was. She grunted landing on her back, his weight pressing her into the coffin, his tongue in a war with hers, his fangs scraping her lips. She writhed sensually under him, feeling the hotness of his flesh between her thighs and he noted with satisfaction that she was sopping wet just as he always imagined her to be. She slid a knee up his thigh and a hand down his back to his bottom, pulling him in invitingly and he didn’t hesitate. He pushed inside her with a deep guttural growl and let her mouth go looking at her stunned.

She was panting under him, her eyes half closed, her mind half lost between pleasure and craving and he dug his fingers in her hair making her lock her gaze with his.

“This feels so real,” he whispered, his voice trembling.

She gave him a breathless chuckle. “Maybe because it is real, you silly.”

“What?” he gasped and she, running her fingers through his long hair, brought his face to hers.

“It’s incredible you didn’t believe your own eyes.”

“Mia…”

“I’m glad you believe your body at least,” she said stroking his cheek.

“You’re real?” he asked, his eyes filling. “This is real?”

“This is real, my love.” She stroked his lower lip with a thumb. “You’re inside of me,” she whispered. “Ah…” her eyes closed as he slid even deeper, his hand on her hip, holding her firmly.

He watched her beautiful face changing in pleasure as he reached between them and found that spot that he remembered would drive her beyond reason. She tightened around him, she held his hips between her knees with a strength that surprised him. He helped her cross her ankles around his waist and the movement let him slide into her even deeper. He shut his eyes and gave himself over to the sensations. How she embraced him with her arms, with her legs, with her hot flesh. He was home every time his length stretched inside of her. And it was unbearable to move out of her hotness, to pull away from her even if it was only for a second. But the ancient instincts drove his movements matched by hers, reaching perfection in rhythm and harmony. He kissed her again, his tongue making love to her too and she accepted it and him, stroking his back, his hair, pulling him into her almost as if she was scared each time he pulled away that he’d never return.

No more. No more doubts. No more fear. She was his. Here and now in his coffin, in his Castle, in his cursed life. And in each and every life he’d ever live. This moment of complete perfection stretched out across eons and galaxies, focusing into the here and now.

Her nails dug into his skin when she gave herself to him. Her whole body tightened around him and though he struggled to hold on, he stood no chance. He came deep within her, clasped in her embrace, enveloped in her love and he found himself helplessly crying into her when some of his sanity returned. She held him and he realized, she cried the same tears he did, holding on to him like she never wanted to let go. A few minutes of joyous agony, and he found her mouth again…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, thanks for the read and the feedback and the kudos! <3 :) 
> 
> It was a pleasure to write this chapter. Not only because of the juicy stuff at the end (which I really hope you liked), but also because of having a chance to write Trevor and Sypha a year from what we've last seen of them on the show. Mature and so rock solid in their relationship, about their love for each other despite the difference in their temperaments.
> 
> I hope you liked the conclusion as well, let me know how much you believed Mia when she threw Alucard for this delightful little loop! Oh, that poor guy, I wonder if that blow on his head by Trevor's shovel made things better or worse... :)
> 
> All feedback are immensely appreciated, especially after a cornerstone chapter like this. So don't hold yourselves back! <3


	14. Chapter 14

Alucard lay in silence staring into the darkness. He ran his fingers through Mia’s hair over and over again, the sensation of her silky strands between his fingers lulled him into a trance-like mindfog. He thought he’d be able to keep on lying there with her in his arms, stroking her hair for all eternity.

Making love to her for the very first time of his life was such a profound experience he felt his whole being transformed. He never thought feeling such ecstatic euphoria could be as shocking, even frightening as it was. He took a shaky breath, the air felt cool on his cheeks where his tears were drying, and he couldn’t help wondering: was Mia right about him fearing happiness? For here he was living the moment he dreamed about for so long and amongst the myriad of emotions swirling in his head, he had no idea how he really felt.

She kept on drawing patterns on his chest with her fingertips, sometimes following a scar, sometimes just simply stroking his skin. She was still not asleep though he was sure she was as drained as he was. Was she feeling as overwhelmed as he did?

“What are you thinking?” he asked truly wishing to know.

Her hand stopped, and she snuggled into him even more. “You know what curiosity did to the cat.” There was a smile in her voice.

He frowned slightly. “Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s not something a good Catholic girl is supposed to say out loud,” she said, and he felt her delicate fingers around him.

He gasped, oh, god, did she know how to touch him! She turned in his arms while teasing and tempting his desires and advanced with her soft kisses lower and lower on his chest. He sighed, immersing into the sensations, but then the faint memory of another woman doing something very similar to him made his eyes snap open.

No! He didn’t want it. Not this way. He took her hands and turning themselves around, pinned her wrists above her head and kissed her lips. She moaned and writhed under him, struggling to free herself, then the feeling of his flesh between her thighs seemed to make her abandon her resolve. He broke away from her mouth, his lips lingering above hers, making her taste his breath.

A strange fog settled over his mind looking into her eyes. There she lay helpless, yet defiant, frightened yet hungry, and it all blurred together making him want to completely conquer her. A predator overpowering its prey between the moment of capture – and the moment of kill.

His fangs glistened. “Tell me all your secrets, Mia,” he whispered and moved an inch inside of her, just to stop short, teasing her and himself.

She breathed heavily, and he felt her shiver underneath him. “Don’t ask me this, I’m begging of you.”

He leaned to her neck and opening his mouth, he made her feel his fangs on her skin for an instant before planting a tiny kiss below her ear. She gasped, and he smiled satisfied.

“Say your thoughts, I want to hear them,” he ordered, and nibbled her earlobe.

“Ah, please…”

He blew into her ear. “Tell me, Mia. Tell me, all of it!”

“I can’t, please, ah...”

He kissed her again and allowed their bodies a few more pleasurable movements before stopping and lying above her completely still, his lips only a hair’s breadth from hers. It was pleasure in itself to know her defenses would crumble under his will.

“Oh god,” she prayed. Her gaze was chained to his, her chest heaved against his, and he knew he’d won. “Fine,” she breathed. “I-I was thinking … I was thinking that you’re so beautiful that if I was given to you as a slave, I’d happily serve all your wishes.” Her voice broke, and a sudden sob emerged from her throat.

He gaped paralyzed, suddenly sobered from his vampiric lust. What did he do to her again? His arousal disappeared seeing her complete humiliation, and that gloom he’d felt returned. He rolled off of her and stared into the dark wiping his hair back. This night was twisting both of them inside out.

She sat up still crying, he realized, but without making a singular sound. He sat too, but she huddled in the far end of the coffin, burying her face in her hands. He watched her wooden. Was he capable of anything but hurting her?

He slid closer, his hand lingered above her slouched shoulder, but he didn’t dare to touch her. “Forgive me.”

“You did nothing wrong,” she moaned raising her head, her tears glinting against the darkness. “I’m the one who’s so messed up. Whose disturbed mind is playing these terrible tricks.”

His throat closed. “Please, tell me, how can I help? Please.”

She shook her head and wiped her cheek. “It’s not your task to do anything.” She straightened her back, her jaw set. “I have to fight my demons alone.”

Her arms wrapped around her body like the silence surrounding them. He could tell she saw things she didn’t want to remember ever again. He bowed his head. Yes, he knew what that was like. But they needed to face the past, if they wanted a chance to be happy in the present.

“Tell me,” he heard himself saying. She looked at him almost as if she’d just realized he had been there all along. “Tell me what _he_ did to you.”

Her eyes widened. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

“Mia, when you made me talk about my past, it was the best thing you could do. It helped me through the darkest place in my life. I want to give you the same thing.”

She turned to him fully. “But I’m not at the darkest place in my life, Adrian. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. This isn’t supposed to happen. I was over it. I knew it when I looked at you and realized I’m looking at you the way a woman does at a man. And now these thoughts… This isn’t supposed to happen.”

“It’s not carved in stone how we are supposed to feel. But we can help each other through. This is what a good partner is there for.” He put a hand on hers locking his eyes with hers. “This is what a spouse is there for. I’m here. I’m listening to you. Please.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Why not? I have a terrible ordeal behind me. You know I’d understand anything. If only you talked to me.”

She stared at him with a faraway expression. “What do you wish to hear?” she asked on a tired voice. “You want to know how he … how he pinned my hands above my head and held me down? How I was terrified to even whimper? How I had to learn to cry only in complete silence in a place where no one saw? How I can still feel his weight and smell his sweat in my nightmares even when I’m sleeping beside you?” She took her hand away.

He swallowed bowing his head. He’d never felt her to be farther from him than in that moment. He wiped an escaped tear from his cheek and studied her face. How could she allow him to even sit beside her let alone hold her or kiss her? She drew in a shaky breath, her cheeks glistening. She was as tortured as she must have been all those years ago. He followed a teardrop rolling down her face with his gaze. Her hands came up into trembling fists. She was fighting. All alone in the night. He frowned coming to a strange realization. Even if her mind grasped that the past was the past, her soul certainly did not. Not, if she felt as if she was his slave. But if she was the slave, and _he_ was the master, he had the power to free her.

“Lie on your back,” he said. She stared at him disbelieving. And he swallowed steeling his will. “Do as I say.”

She still hesitated visibly confused, even frightened.

He straightened his back looking right into her eyes. “Don’t make me say it again.”

She swallowed, and he could smell her fear mixed with her sudden arousal. It made his senses go crazy, and he had to fight the predatoristic urge to grab her and force her under him. She crawled up to the pillow and lay down.

“Now, put your hands above your head,” he commanded, a surge of guilt flowing through him seeing her obedience. She whimpered as he lay above her, between her legs. He locked his eyes with hers and slowly slid his hands into hers above her head, fingers entwined.

“Try to free yourself now,” he whispered.

She stared at him disbelievingly and reluctantly slipped her hands out of his. It took no effort at all. She gasped.

“You’re free, Mia. You’re not a slave anymore. Whatever we do, we do it because we both want it.”

A sob escaped her lips, and he held her close. He let her tears wash away her past, her fear and helplessness then laced his fingers through hers again and kissed her deeply on the lips.

* * *

When Alucard woke the next morning, he found he was alone in his coffin. If it wasn’t for Mia’s fragrance all around him and the smell of their lovemaking, he was sure he would not be able to tell if he’d just dreamed everything or it had been real. He sat up gingerly. He was quite stiff and sore. If burying his Forest of the Dead wasn’t enough strain on his muscles, making love for a whole night did have its aftereffects.

Where was she? he wondered, looking around. Maybe she couldn’t sleep next to him. The night before, he did push her out of her own bed. Or was he snoring? Or... or did she have second thoughts? He slouched. Despite how he imagined their first night to be, it wasn’t just happiness and pleasure.

He got dressed and went to look for her. The kitchen and the living room was empty, so he went outside. He walked down the stairs squinting against the morning sun. On the periphery of his vision, he saw the surrounding mountains, and he turned to his left surprised. Normally, his Forest of the Dead blocked out the sight but … not anymore. He sighed. He couldn’t decide if he missed them, or was relieved that they were now underground. His gaze found Sypha and Mia. They were just walking away toward the trees. He frowned. Where were they headed?

“Morning,” he heard Trevor from behind him.

He turned. “Morning.”

Trevor handed him a mug and drank into his own looking over at the girls. “I suspected you didn’t get invited either.”

“No. What are they up to?”

Trevor shrugged and sat down on the stairs. Alucard followed suit.

“Well,” Trevor said. “Sypha was wildly gesturing a moment ago showing what seemed to me measurements, to which Mia was nodding fervently, so I’d guess they’re comparing notes.”

“Wha- Ah, idiot…”Alucard said with a grimace, and gave the chuckling Trevor a shove.

“Hey, my tea!” Trevor growled shaking the hot liquid off his hand.

“You deserved it,” Alucard said sipping his tea then coughed. “What the... you put rum in the tea?”

“Sshhh!” Trevor looked cautiously toward the girls. “Could you be a little louder? The priest in the neighbor village didn’t hear you.”

“It’s seven in the morning for god’s sake, and you’re getting drunk?”

“It’s just for the taste. Don’t get so worked up about it, you can’t be called Saint Soberance either.”

“You’re impossible, Belmont,” Alucard muttered against the mug.

“Glad you find my tea only morally problematic.”

Alucard rolled his eyes then looked back at the girls. Were they really gossiping about them? Was Mia telling Sypha what happened last night? Ah, Mia was difficult to get to talk to. Not that Trevor had any problem getting her to talk in the library yesterday. He grimaced. Why was it easier for her to talk to Trevor?

“Sypha is teaching Mia some basic spell casting,” Trevor said following his eyes.

Alucard glanced at him distracted then frowned. “Mia and magic? Whose idea was that? She’s an ex-nun.”

“Don’t tell me. Tell Sypha. She said a girl needed self-defense skills these days.” He snorted. “Teach offensive magic to a pacifist, good luck, my love.” He sipped his drink watching only Sypha.

Alucard studied his friend with a frown. He seemed especially moody. And though a drunk, Trevor wouldn’t start at the break of dawn if it wasn’t for a good reason.

“Did something happen I missed?”

“Like what?”

“You tell me, you seem more morose than you usually are.”

Trevor put down the empty mug and lay back resting his elbows on the stairs behind him turning his face up. “Just the usual fight.”

“Usual fight? You have a fight you usually have?”

“Yeah.”

“Over what?”

“Over getting married.”

“You have fights over getting married?” Alucard asked taken aback.

Trevor shrugged. “I tell her, I want our baby to wear my name, she tells me, it will, I shouldn’t worry. I tell her we should still get married, she tells me it’s the establishment of the corrupt and crooked church, I tell her that’s bullshit, and she goes berserk yadayada...”

“How often do you have this fight?”

“Since we know the baby’s coming? Weekly.”

“Aham.” Alucard gazed into his half-finished mug. In Sypha’s place, he’d be pretty reluctant to bind his life to the Belmont too. He looked at Trevor and let out a breath. Fine. He had to admit he wasn’t such a terrible choice.

Trevor went on. “It goes pretty much the same way every time. Oh, no, I’m lying, because today there was a new element: marriage is for those who are forced into it. That was her last argument. Do you know anybody who loved each other and got married? That’s what she asked.” He snorted glancing away.

“I want to marry Mia.”

Trevor sat up. “See? People do that. It’s not like, you’re in love so you mustn’t marry. It’s the craziest idea ever!”

Alucard pondered. “I asked her twice actually. But she didn’t give me an answer.”

“Welcome to the club then. Or rather, I’ll welcome you when you had that conversation a few more times over.”

Alucard looked at him. “You think she’ll say no?”

Trevor chuckled. “If I knew what a woman had in her head, I’d not make my living as a hunter. They’re strong and independent women, Alucard. Marriage for them would mean a step back. But for fuck’s sake, as if I wanted to put a yoke in her neck and make her pull our covered wagon – we don’t even have one anymore to begin with! Ah, I don’t know what to do.”

“So Mia didn’t say yes, because she wants to say no,” Alucard said slowly.

Trevor grimaced. “Easy to talk to you, Alucard. Thanks so much for listening to me.”

“Welcome.”

“Argh, the gargoyle up on the roof is a better listener than you are!”

Alucard frowned at Trevor’s outburst. “What. I _am_ a good listener! But she’s a closed book, she very rarely talks to me. I mean _really_ talk.”

“I sincerely wonder why that is,” Trevor said propping his elbow on his knee.

“Why is that?” Alucard asked confused. “You could make her talk yesterday. But with me, she’s different. She helped me through so many things, I want to be there for her too, but it’s like a one-way street.”

“So you’re saying she helped you and pushed her own self in the background.”

“Yes.”

“Right. And did it never occur to you, she’s with you _exactly_ because you’re an egomaniac bastard?”

Alucard looked daggers at him, then motioned politely with his hand. “I'll put off ripping your throat out for that and just ask, what the hell do you mean?”

“I mean as long as you’re talking about you, she doesn’t have to talk about herself. It’s a comfortable position if you want to keep your secrets.”

Alucard stared at him dumbstruck, but it was lost on Trevor, because he just sprang to his feet.

“Enough of this soul-searching. Let’s see what these two are up to there.”

Alucard stood too but felt as if he just got a kick in the balls - not that he knew how painful that actually was, but now he had a fairly accurate idea. Did Mia really want to keep him at a safe distance by letting him babble about his own issues? Last night, she did speak. But he wasn’t sure it didn’t cause more harm than good. They walked up to the girls, and he looked into her eyes. Yesterday, she was complaining about him not letting her close. But what if it was actually the other way around?

“So how is the lesson going?” Trevor asked.

“Not very well,” Mia winced. “I already told Sypha I’m the least talented person to teach magic for.”

“Spell casting can be learned by anyone,” Sypha said. “It’s just spells and making your will take a material form.”

“Yes, but with a ball of fire or an icicle I can hurt others.”

Sypha laughed. “That is the point!”

“I told you, she’s a pacifist,” Trevor said. “She’ll never learn or do anything that might cause harm.”

“What about taking a different approach?” Alucard asked awaking from his gloomy thoughts. They turned to him. “If you don’t want to hurt others, just create something that will protect you, that can do the job for you.”

“I don’t understand,” Mia said with a slight frown.

“I use a shape-shifting spell to turn into a wolf because that form is much more powerful in a close-proximity fight than my humanoid form.”

“Ah, that’s not going to work,” Trevor waved. “If it’s up to her, she’ll turn herself into a pretty little kitty cat and try to disarm a night creature by purring.”

Mia gave him a shove. “And if you had the power to turn yourself into anything, you’d definitely be a boar.”

“Oh, the kitty has claws, be careful with her at night, Alucard.”

Alucard frowned. “I believe I’ve mentioned throat ripping at least once already today.”

Sypha gave Trevor a shove too. “You’re talking to a lady, have some manners.”

Trevor held his hands up. “Please, forgive me for joking about the claws of your highness the queen.”

“The queen will overtly appreciate it if you’d just put a sock in it while she’s busy learning her magic,” Mia said, and he squinted at her crossing his arms.

Alucard had to admit, it was an odd enjoyment seeing the two of them bickering like a brother and sister would. He never had the pleasure to do that. Mia motioned for him to continue. “Right, so what I wanted to say, you can simply summon a creature that does the fight for you.”

“But then that creature gets hurt. And it would be because of me. I most definitely can’t do that!” Mia said horrified by the idea.

Sypha shook her head. “Summoned creatures are not like real-life creatures, Mia. If they die, you can re-summon them after a short while. They are more like spirits taking a shape.” She looked at Alucard. “But that’s not easy to learn Alucard. It would take some time, and I’d need to look up the appropriate spells.”

“We’ll need to go back to the Hold anyway.”

“Er, not without breakfast, no way!” Trevor put in.

“Chowhound,” Alucard said under a cough as they started for the Castle, and the girls laughed.

Trevor raised a bemused eyebrow. “No day going by without me having to beat you up, ha?”

“Bragger,” Alucard snorted. “You’re not so brave without a shovel.”

Mia entwined her arms through his, and they lagged behind.

“Trevor must be really hungry,” he grumbled under his nose watching the other couple walking swiftly ahead.

“He really loves his stomach, I can tell you. He often got told off for devouring his food. As if he had to compete with a pack of wolf that had been starved for weeks.”

Alucard chuckled looking at her. She smiled back, and he put a hand on hers where it was on his arm. It was amazingly casual. As if they’d been walking like that all their life.

“You know,” she started with a cheeky smile. “I never expected the extra benefits our relationship is bringing.”

“Oh?”

“I got a buddy in teasing Trevor!”

Alucard laughed and gave her a kiss. When they broke away, all his doubts from a few minutes prior disappeared. They went inside holding hands.

* * *

After breakfast, the four of them walked to the Hold. The sun was brightly shining, and it was unusually warm compared to the Wallachian early-spring. Alucard entwined his fingers through Mia’s and looked at her smiling. She stroked his arm holding on to him, and leaning to her, he gave her a small kiss. He barely could take his eyes off her. Seeing the sunshine in her hair, he got an idea. He disappeared and showed up with a small white flower.

“Thank you,” Mia said amazed. They stopped, and he put it into her hair.

“Oh, god, you know what?” Trevor asked when they caught up with them. “I’m having a hard time deciding if you were more annoying yesterday, or now.”

“You jealous Belmont?”

“Far be it from me. But we have a thing to do. It’s not the best of times for the two of you to be distracted. I’m starting to regret having helped you hook up yesterday.”

“Trevor!” Mia gave him a shove from behind.

He cleared his throat, his cheeks turning red as they stopped, and all gazes were on him.

“What do you mean _helping_ us yesterday?” Alucard asked with a raised brow.

“Yes, well...”

“Trevor,” Mia looked daggers at him.

“No, no. Seeing his red face, I want to hear this story too,” Sypha said crossing her arms.

“Er, I well, after seeing Mia so upset when you were digging the graves,” Trevor motioned to Alucard. “I told her if you don’t have the guts to wear the pants in this relationship, she should remove hers. Her … skirts that it.” He cleared his throat.

Sypha hit him on the arm. “You did what?”

“Auch, why are you so worked up about it? It did go the best way it could, didn't it?”

“What I’m worked up about? You told a lady to strip, for god’s sake! In her place, I’d have burned your head off!”

“Luckily, she’s not that apt in magic,” Trevor grumbled.

Alucard looked at Mia. “I can't believe last night you … did … what you did because this runt told you so!”

Mia let out an exasperated breath. “What choice did I have?” She turned to Trevor and punched him on the other shoulder. “I told you not to breathe a word of this to them!”

“Oh, god, will you all grow up?” Trevor burst out. “You,” he pointed to Alucard. “She wouldn’t have to ask for my advice, if you had stoned up already.” He turned to Sypha. “Yes, I told her to strip. That also means I did not personally help her to strip, so put away your fireballs.” Then to Mia. “And you finally got your man where you wanted him, didn’t you? What’s the fuss?” He took a few steps from them. “Precisely as always: the Belmonts help everybody out, and then find themselves on the wrong end of a dick.”

“If you saw what I picture now, Belmont, being on the end of a dick wouldn’t seem that bleak an option, believe me,” Alucard said crossing his arms. They started to walk again.

“Can we concentrate on whatever we have to do down there instead of this witch-hunt?” Trevor said.

Alucard grimaced and looked at Mia who went beside him, watching him visibly desperate. He was hit by her expression. She seemed terrified of his reaction, though he actually just felt a little grumpy about the whole episode. Far from wanting to chase her away for it. He wordlessly took her hand.

“Did you find anything in the Hold yesterday?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah, because you missed all the dusty and spider-webby fun we had,” Sypha chuckled. “It’s not easy to find anything down there. But not impossible either. The books are just knocked off the shelves, but they are still around the place they were supposed to be.”

“But even if we can gnaw ourselves through the chaos,” Alucard said, “and even if we know which book they stole, we won’t know anything about the power and capabilities of the spells in it if they took the book with them.”

“If we’re lucky, we will,” Mia said. “My grandmother used to go into great lengths to have more than one copies of the most valuable books. The spell these people are looking for is not some simple magic trick. I’m certain it’s in one of the great books of magic that have been collected by our families throughout the centuries. If it’s so, those books have copies down there somewhere. Once we found them, we’ll be able to check exactly what spell they are planning to use. And we’ll be able to prepare better.”

“Sounds fun,” Trevor butted in. “Can I choose gravedigging instead again?”

They descended into the Hold and then decided to share the tasks: Sypha went through the index looking for the most relevant titles about magic, and the rest of them were trying to look for the chosen books. In a few hours, she was surrounded by dusty thick volumes, and she tried to skim through them.

After four hours of turning up scattered books on the floor and on the remaining shelves, Alucard found the two he was looking for and brought them back to Sypha. He found her at the lectern trying to turn a page in the index, but three other books were in the way, and they fell off the small space. She swore, and he was surprised to see her starting to cry. He went to her and picking up the books, placed them all on the lectern.

“Are you alright?” he asked putting a hand on her arm.

She gave him a teary smile. “Of course,” she sniffled. “Just the pregnancy. These days I start crying over the smallest, stupidest things.”

“I hope that good-for-nothing husband of yours at least manages to comfort you.”

She turned sharply to him. “He’s not my husband, and for god’s sake, don’t put ideas in his head, he’s bad enough already!”

"Uhm, sorry, slip of the tongue. But you know, it’s not me putting ideas in anyone’s head. He told me the night before when we were drinking that he wants to get married, but you don’t.”

“Seriously, Alucard, I’m trying to make him quit drinking, and you turn into a drinking buddy?”

He raised an eyebrow, not letting themselves stray from the topic. He really wanted to know why Sypha was so strongly against marriage. These times, a girl in her place would be running to the closest church if the man was willing to take up the responsibility of the consequences of his actions. Especially, if those consequences were already as obvious as they were on Sypha.

She looked at him desperate. “He’s obsessed with this stupid idea of getting married. But Speakers don’t do that.”

“Trevor is not a Speaker.”

“No, but my people have some customs I want to follow.”

“And what about the Speaker Hymenial? Needing only a Speaker elder who gives his blessing and the two of you declare your love for each other. Same thing, but no need for a priest or the blessing of the Church.”

“How on Earth do you know about that?”

“I had a year to read up on the people of one of my best friends.”

She scoffed. “Read about Speakers. I call that blasphemy.”

“Sypha.”

“Alright, fine, I did not mention this to Trevor.”

“Why not?”

“Because I...” she turned away and ran a hand up her arm.

Alucard watched her stunned as the realization hit: “You really don’t want to be his wife. Not in any way.”

She looked at him pleading. “I’ve always been independent, Alucard. I never had to count on anyone.”

“But your people live in groups. You depend on each other.”

“That’s different.”

“How is that different? You and Trevor made the best team from the start.”

“Yes, but it’s different to be a part of a group and to have only one person you can count on. One person to … depend on.” She took a few paces to avoid his gaze.

“You mean, you don’t want to depend on a man,” he translated, and she bowed her head hugging herself. “Sypha, Trevor knows you don’t depend on him. In fact, everybody does. Your powers make you the most formidable from among the three of us. I’d have a difficult time figuring out a good way to fight you, and I’m very glad we’re not enemies.”

She looked at him with a small smile. “Me too. I’d hate to burn that beautiful golden cascade of hair off your skull.”

He laughed. “You think it’s beautiful? My father chastised me for it every singular day! He said I wear it like this just to rebel.”

“And I’m wearing my hair short to rebel too. You’re in good company.”

They chuckled, and he went on stepping up to her. “Trevor doesn’t want to marry you to make you dependent on him. You are his family. He just wants to wear a ring to show that to the world. I find that uncharacteristically noble and nice of him.”

She squinted up at him. “Your parents didn’t happen to have a good marriage, did they?”

“Actually, it was the most perfect relationship, you could ask for.”

“That explains a lot of things.”

“Even if they didn’t, I’d still want to marry the woman I love. That’s what people do.”

She chuckled softly. “I never would have thought that Alucard of Wallachia is a hopeless romantic.” He smiled but then her eyes grew sad, and she went on gazing away. “My father was not a Speaker. They had a very short and bitter marriage with my mother. He left after I was born, and she died very soon after.” She looked at him. “Don’t misunderstand me, I had a very good childhood thanks greatly to my grandfather and to a less degree my people. But I don’t want to … I don’t want to repeat history. We’re fine with Trevor as we are. Why spoil that with change?”

“Not all change is bad. Trevor is nothing like your father. He lost his own family, he’d never want to experience that again. I’m quite sure he wants to marry you because of that very reason. Is that so wrong of him?”

She bowed her head. “No. Not at all. It’s just... I’m...”

“You’re afraid.” She looked at him surprised, and he went on. “I know because I was too. It took me a long time to fight that fear, and it caused Mia a lot of pain. I regret now that I didn’t live for the moment. There’s no point in living in fear. Life passes by you, and you miss out on so much.”

She smiled at him and gave him a hug. “You know what?” she said in a low voice against his hair.

“What?”

“Yesterday, when you put up that tantrum over Mia and Trevor, I was thinking, god, he hadn’t matured one bit in a whole year.” He chuckled, and she pulled away. “I see now, I was wrong.”

He laughed and leaning to her gave a soft kiss on her cheek. “I don't know what you’re talking about, I was born a grown-up.”

“Khm,” they heard and let each other go.

“I’m having a very strong dejavu,” Trevor said with a raised eyebrow standing next to Mia. “Just the characters in the scene are different.”

Alucard stepped away from Sypha ignoring how red his face had become. “Grow up, Belmont. Only children are jealous of friends.”

Trevor crossed his arms. “Ha, look who’s talking!”

Sypha tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear and looked at the book in Mia’s hand. “Did-did you find something useful?”

“Oh, I think so,” she said and walked up to the other woman opening the volume in her hand.

Sypha looked into the book and frowned. “I do not read this language, but I recognize the characters. Is this not Arabic?”

“Persian, I believe. Related closely to Arabic.”

“You read Arabic?” Trevor asked, and Mia shook her head.

“Only bits and pieces. I read and speak Turkish. The language of the nobles uses a myriad of loan words from Persian and Arabic and borrowed from the calligraphy of the Arabic culture. This book I believe is from before the time the prophet Muhammad, when the Arabian world was largely as pagan as the European used to be before Christianity.”

“What is this book about?” Alucard asked.

“Magic, occult practices,” Mia replied. “The title is Magi Rituals, the author is called Osthanes. Let me check something.” She stepped to the index and paged through it. “Here. The index says, there should be two copies. We found only one.”

“Isaac must read Arabic,” Sypha said, and the four of them stared at one another for a moment thinking the same: was this _it_?

“Can you read it?” Trevor asked.

“I can try to get a general grasp of what’s written here, but I cannot read it word for word,” Mia replied thumbing through it. “There are some vivid illustrations in it that caught my attention.” She opened the book and turned it toward them. The image was drawn with great care: a gate was opened, a spirit was flying out of it, while a man was standing above the scene, holding his bleeding wrist above it.

Mia turned the book back toward her. “This word means evil spirit or ghost.” Her finger slid over to the next delicate string of characters. “This means Underworld.”

“In ancient times, people believed in the Underworld, not in Hell or Heaven,” Sypha added. “What else?”

Mia shook her head. “There seems to be a list of materials and substances. Probably those needed for the ritual. Sulfur, mercury, incense …"

“What about that drawing?” Trevor asked. “It sure as hell doesn’t bode well. A guy bleeding into Hell?”

“Blood is also on the list,” Mia said pointing to a word.

“Blood to resurrect a vampire. Not very surprising,” Sypha said.

“Not just any blood,” Mia said on a grave voice. “This word here. It means offspring,” she raised her head to look into Alucard’s eyes, “or son.”

He was surprised not to be surprised by the revelation.

“So this is why Isaac wants you,” Trevor said. “He not only wants revenge, he wants to bring his master back using your blood in the ritual.”

Silence descended on them as the thought sank in. Alucard felt blindsided all of a sudden by those few hours of happiness with Mia. He was aware that Isaac was coming, but somehow he took it lightly. Somehow, he thought, that with enough time passing, Isaac would forget all about it, because mortals worked that way. But a once acolyte wanting to bring his master back to life would stop at nothing to achieve just that.

“Hey, what are these distressed faces?” Trevor cut through the silence. “This is good news!”

“How is Alucard being the target of a madman good news to you?” Sypha asked upset.

“Let’s see. We now know what Isaac wants _exactly_. We also can be sure, he hasn’t managed to pull it off because he's lacking the most important ingredient to bring Dracula back: Alucard's blood. We not only know that, but we even possess the one ingredient. All we have to do is keep it safe and away from the chef.” 

“Trevor, Isaac has an army to achieve his goals,” Mia said silently.

“That army moves like a battered old mule. It’s not exactly the biggest effort to outrun them.”

“No,” Alucard said and was surprised by his tired voice. The others looked at him, and he shook his head. “I cannot run from my fate. The longer I run, the more people die on the way of the army to get to me. I cannot have that.”

“So then we prepare. We have the strongest Speaker magician on our side,” Trevor said pointing to Sypha, then to himself, “a pretty experienced hunter,” and at Alucard, “and the son of fucking Dracula on our team. Come on, you guys. We killed the whole war council of Dracula _and_ Dracula himself. Those are just two idiots running around with fancy knives and some stray night creatures drooling in their footprints. Nothing we cannot handle.”

Sypha tried to smile. “True. True. And in the meantime, Mia can pick up on magic too.”

“Question is, how much is that meantime?” Alucard mused and started walking.

“When we left Opatija through the mirror, we calculated it would take a month to get home,” Sypha replied.

They stopped at the shattered remote viewing mirror.

“Let’s see,” Alucard said making a motion with his hand, and the army of Isaac appeared.

His heart sank seeing the hundreds of demons and creatures marching on the road, and he knew – he could smell – the sight frightened his friends. He made another motion, and the image showed the background. Tall mountains and a burning village. He bowed his head. Devastation wherever they went.

“Oh, god, I know that place,” Sypha breathed. “It’s in Transylvania.”

“What? They barely left the Dalmatian shores. They couldn’t have covered that much ground,” Trevor said.

“They must have gone through a portal, just like we did,” Alucard said.

“Then why aren’t they here? Why not come directly to the Castle?” Mia asked.

“There are simpler mirrors that work in pairs. You enter one, then exit on the other. You cannot choose your destination. To find a mirror that’s big enough to transport so many creatures is in itself difficult. Probably, he took what he could lay his hands on.”

“How much time do you think we have?” Trevor asked Sypha who was fixating on the image in the mirror. Alucard had to admit, he rarely saw her as worried as she was watching that gigantic army.

“A few days. Maybe a week,” she said.

Alucard looked at his friends. He knew begging them to leave would be useless. They were true, loyal friends. Ones he wished for all his life. And Mia, the woman he wished for all his life. Now, he was dragging them down with him by their bond to him. He bowed his head and wordlessly walked away. He heard Mia hurrying after him, but he disappeared before she could reach him. The way he knew, she always feared to lose him: turning into thin air in her arms.

He was wandering aimlessly in the forest for hours. He was playing with the thought of simply getting lost never to return home again. But his feet took him back to his Castle. The light in the living room just went out. He looked up at the sparkling full moon. It was around midnight. They probably were worried about him. He turned away. He couldn’t go in. He just wasn’t able.

He walked on in the dark forest and stopped at the creek where he usually took his baths. He was planning to connect the water pipes of the Castle to the creek so they could have more comfortable accommodation with tap water. But now … what for? It was over in a week’s time anyway. He stripped and trod into the cold, crystal clear water. Ah, that chilling sensation, always cleared his mind.

He leaned back and submerged. He opened his eyes and saw the glistening white bowl of the moon dancing through the water. It then was clouded by his golden locks swimming into his vision. He let the air out of his lungs and watched the bubbles disrupt the image. There was a brief moment of hesitation when all the bubbles disappeared on the surface, and he knew he needed to take another breath. It would be the ultimate solution for everybody to take it still underwater.

He came up for air and wiping his hair out of his face stood. He breathed heavily for a few moments and then gaped seeing Mia standing on the shores opposite him. She was a mesmerizing vision standing there glowing against the darkness, the moonlight embracing her gentle form through the almost transparent nightgown.

She wordlessly walked into the creek, up to where he was standing then put her hands on his chest, and kissed his lips. Her mouth, her skin, her fingers were so warm, so alive – and he was so hungry for life! He wrapped her in his arms and fought the urge to devour her. He broke away and looked at her out of breath.

“You’ll catch a cold,” he whispered.

She simply kissed him again and before he knew it, he was making love to her on the turf of the shore. The drops of their sweat and the water sparkled against the night like diamonds, and he tried to kiss them all away from her cheeks, her lips, her beautiful, beautiful breasts before he entered her. Feeling her hotness surrounding him against the cold air almost took his sanity away, and he had no idea why he wasted the whole afternoon and evening with useless brooding while he could have simply let her fill him with life the way she did just now.

They didn’t last long, and he didn’t try to fight off pleasure when it consumed them. He then rolled off her and stared at the velvety night sky exhausted.

“Will it ever be different?” she asked in a whisper, and he turned his head to her. “Will you ever even try to consider coming to me to share your burdens instead of running off to deal with everything alone?”

“Mia, you made me promise not to send you away, and you’re in imminent lethal danger if you stay. But I want to keep to my promise, I needed to somehow process that.”

She turned to him with a hard expression. “And while you’re processing that, what should I do? Lie in your coffin all alone?”

He let out a breath and sat up then stood to find his pants.

She stood too. “Or should I be lying in my own bed? Waiting for my man to use my services, just to find myself alone again when he’s finished.” She stood before him as he did his pants. “What am I to you, Adrian? Am I more than a pair of open legs, tell me!”

He gasped and took her by the arm. “What about you?”

“Wha- What about me?”

“Am I more than the man you share a bed with, Mia? Or in our case… the coffin. Or am I just the loser you want to take care about?”

“How can you ask that?! You know you are everything to me!”

“Oh, am I? Well, you know, Trevor said something really interesting to me today. He said, while we’re talking about _my_ problems, you don’t need to talk about yours. And that you’re with me _exactly_ because of that.”

She gaped then snorted and pulled away from him. “It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, I hope you punched him on the face for it.”

“But it’s true!” He stepped to her again. “How can you want to be close to me if you don’t let me close to you? How can we be partners if there’s such an imbalance between us? You expect me to overcome my fears of belonging to you, but you are just as scared as I am.”

“Of course I am!” she sobbed suddenly, and he stood there shocked to see her tears. She put a shaky hand in front of her mouth as she struggled to stop crying and looked at him in distress.

“Of course I’m scared,” she whispered wiping her cheeks sniffling. “If you knew even the tenth of what that man did to me, you’d never want to look at me again. Let alone touch me or-or consider me as … as someone you want to marry. Even the thought is so ridiculous from me to even dream about, I feel completely stupid saying it out aloud!”

“But… but why? Mia, I-”

“Because I’m just a slave. Used and abused inside out, less than the trash you sweep off the carpet in your living room. And you …” she shook her head dropping her hands to her sides. “You’re perfect.”

“Mia,” he breathed and gaped seeing the devotion in her eyes. “You know I’m anything but perfect.”

“Yes, you are,” she said and reached up to gently stroke his hair. “Everything about you. The tiniest things.” She slid her hand down his arm and took his hand. “You just don’t realize it. And I don’t deserve you. How could I deserve someone as perfect as you?”

He cupped her cheek and kissed her, almost as if he wanted to kiss away all her self-loath. In a moment, he let her go, putting a thumb on her lips. “Stop talking,” he whispered shaken. He moved in to take her face in both of his hands, breathing heavily. “I _never_ want to hear such terrible words you just said about yourself.” She stared at him tortured, and he stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. “You’re not a slave. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. The smartest, kindest, most loving… Your past is the past. Being a slave is not by choice. Whatever that man did to a helpless little girl that you were is not her shame. But his.”

“Adrian,” she pleaded, and her tears rolled down her cheeks.

He sank to one knee taking her hands in his. “Marry me, my love. I want nothing more in this life. Nothing. Just you.”

She sniffled. “Do you mean it?” she asked with childlike innocence, and the thought that she was trying to take back her lost confidence and trust in that very moment squeezed his heart.

He let his tears roll down his cheeks. “I never meant anything more than this. Don’t you realize, you’re my life? You gave me back everything that others took till the moment we met. With only one look, one smile – one kiss you breathed life into me. If you hadn’t come that day demanding my books … I wouldn’t be alive today.”

She dropped to her knees, her mouth on his, and they cried into that beautiful bittersweet kiss. That was the first time Alucard felt completely free of all his fears and inhibitions. When they broke away, they smiled and wiped the tears off each other’s cheeks.

“You didn’t answer,” he murmured, kissing her palm.

A tearfilled chuckle blurted through her lips. “Do you have any doubts?”

“No, but I still need to hear it.”

She gave him a long close-mouthed kiss. “I do, I want to marry you, my love.”

“Good. Because we’ll have to pull it off as long as we have our two witnesses here with us,” he said smiling, but his heart was heavy as he replied her slight frown. “I cannot let those two just starting out their family get involved in my war. Sypha and Trevor and the baby, they need to leave before the army gets here.” He wiped a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. “Will you help me convince them?”

She nodded but broke down in tears, and he held her close tightly. _Everything will be alright_ , he wanted to say. But there was no point: they both knew it was not true. He buried his face in her hair as a strange tranquility settled over his soul. Maybe he’d die in the coming week. Maybe she’d have to die with him. But at least they were together. If not in life, but in death. He planted a kiss in her hair. If that was what fate allowed them, he would take it without question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the many-many reads on this fic while I was away! Sorry for the extremely long hiatus. Work is work, and it's interfering with my flow :( Feedback is always welcome! :) <3
> 
> Okay, I convinced myself to show you something:
> 
> Some visualization of a certain scene from this chapter: <https://www.deviantart.com/alexahorn/art/Sparkles-847759391> \- You need a DeviantArt account to see it because it's mature content for nudity and suggestive themes.
> 
> Also included one more drawing at an earlier chapter and I put it here as well: <https://www.deviantart.com/alexahorn/art/Drinking-buddies-843493009>
> 
> I know I'm not the biggest artist, but I totally enjoy drawing these - don't know how bad they seem for others, so here goes nothing. :)


	15. Chapter 15

Alucard was waking slowly to the sensation of soft lips traveling lazily across his chest. A hand was sliding lower and lower so that deft fingers would eventually find their way around his most sensitive parts. He gasped feeling a hot nude body lying between his legs, over him, and his body instinctively responded to the touch.

“No, please...” he heard himself whimper despite the pleasure.

No, he didn’t want to see that knife above his chest again. He didn’t want to feel helplessly bound. He didn’t want to smell his own burning flesh. And he didn’t want to do what he knew he’d have to do to save himself. He felt her move and when his eyes fluttered open, he fully expected Sumi’s face above his.

But it was Mia. Her eyes were glistening against the darkness, her breath on his lips, her skin rubbing against his. She stroked his hair and kissed his lips, then his chin down his jaw to his ear.

“You’re safe, my love,” she whispered. “In our bed, there’s only pleasure and love. Nothing else exists.”

His throat closed hearing her words. As if she read his mind. He slid his hand up her back, and she raised herself to look at him again.

“I...” he swallowed. “I can’t... I can’t let it happen again.”

She put a finger on his lips. “I know.”

He let out a silent breath. Yes, if someone had an idea of his struggles it was her. And yet, he was still afraid.

She held his face in her palms. “Adrian, they’re not here,” she whispered. “ _I’m_ here. And in our bed, you’re safe.” She kissed him softly. “Because I’ll protect you.”

He smiled amazed. Crazy as it sounded, in that moment, enveloped in her arms, with his gaze locked to hers, he did feel safe. He did feel protected. And he let her kiss him again.

* * *

Next morning, Alucard woke up alarmed. He had no idea what woke him, but it was disturbing enough for him to sit up still half-asleep. It took his foggy mind a few turns of his head to register that Mia was not in the room. He frowned. How did he always sleep through her getting up? His lips twitched in amusement. Well, she did manage to wear him out thoroughly last night, true. God, she was just amazing. Was it wrong of him to enjoy her skills so much? Skills she got while held as a slave. He sighed. She didn’t seem to mind. If she did, she’d most probably not use them on him.

Then he heard it again, and realized what woke him a few seconds ago: shouting and the breaking of wood followed by a vicious roar! _Oh my god!_ He jumped out of his coffin, pulled on his pants and ran downstairs as he was, half-naked and barefoot, with his sword flying near his hand.

 _A night creature. It must be!_ They were here. The army was here! His heart raced. Mia! Where was she? The others could protect themselves, but she was defenseless.

The gates opened by the motion of his hand, and he ran through them just to stop short on top of the stairs.

“What the f-?”

He had a difficult time collecting his jaw from the ground when he found himself face to face with a gigantic dragon! But he soon had to get over his shock because the beast was glaring right at him, and then it opened its mouth – fire smoldering in its throat. Alucard leaped out of the way of the fireball just before it touched his skin, and he started to run mindlessly. He’d seen things in his father’s laboratory, but a dragon?!

“Over here!” he heard from behind an enormous oak tree lying at the edge of the clearing.

He disappeared and reappeared behind the trunk where the others were crouching.

“What the hell is going on?!” he asked still panting heavily.

“Wrong question, Alucard,” Trevor said raising his whip. “Ask rather how to get rid of it.”

“Adrian, I-” Mia started, but Trevor cut her off.

“Leave this to us, you already have done enough.” He looked at Sypha with a hard expression. “And next time, think again before wanting to teach magic to a Renard. You may not be prepared for the outcome.”

Sypha rolled her eyes then opened her mouth, but Mia called out.

“Look out!”

They ducked from the fireball flying above their heads and then watched stunned as the dragon flew up in the air to take a lazy circle around the steeples of the Castle.

Alucard turned to Mia, “You mean _you_ did this?”

“It-it was an accident. I just read out the words of the spell Sypha was teaching, and I spotted a small lizard. Then all of a sudden-”

“All of a sudden you summoned a dragon. Because we didn’t have enough of hell on Earth already,” Trevor chastised her.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Did you know what you were doing at all?”

Mia put her fists on her hips. “Well, not the first time. But the next I’ll surely be looking at you when I’m casting a spell. I wonder what will get summoned, maybe a gigantic ram.”

“Oh, not a boar this time? Did I level up, kitty-cat?”

Sypha glanced at the sky. “Two manchildren bickering were not enough, no, I had to meet their little sister. God hates me.”

“Uh, guys?” Alucard waved to them then pointed to the sky. “Dragon. And if you put its appetite off with squabbling, it will soon find its laid table in the town.”

“Let’s get to work,” Trevor said tugging at his whips.

“No!” Mia stopped them. “I won’t let you hurt him.”

“Wha-?” Alucard gaped. “Mia, for god’s sake, it’ll eat your ex-neighbours for breakfast,”

“Ah, would you all just cut it out!” Sypha called out then conjured a long thin ice-dagger and shot the wing of the dragon through.

The creature vanished into thin air, and the others looked at her stunned. She staggered to her feet with Trevor’s helping hand on her arm and dusted her robes.

“What did you – how did you?” Alucard tried to ask but couldn’t find the end of the question.

She pointed to the gates. “Haven’t you noticed that the fire the dragon was making was not setting anything aflame? It was a big powerless illusion, just what an absolute beginner would be able to conjure.” She turned to Mia with a smile. “A very talented beginner, I might add. I never thought you’d grasp the essence of that spell so strongly on the first attempt. I thought the lizard would be a lizard if you try to summon its spirit, but it seems our little friend had a big ambition.” The two girls giggled.

“But Sypha, the tree. It rooted out an oak tree,” Alucard said still confused.

“Uh, hmm,” Trevor walked a few steps away.

“That was my overprotective partner and his trusty whip,” Sypha said crossing her arms. “He blew this poor tree out of its roots so we have a place to ‘duck behind’,” she said with air-quotes.

Trevor shrugged stepping back to them. “How was I supposed to know it was just a mirage?”

“You could have listened to me?”

“Er, Sypha...” Alucard started staring at her skirt. A suspicious wet patch was steadily growing on it.

Trevor cut him off. “If you think I’m going to stand by when I think my woman and my child is in danger, you’ve got another thing coming, Sypha.”

“Sypha, listen,” Alucard tried again, but she just waved him off.

“And if you think the only thing standing between doom and this baby is your whip, you’re sorely mistaken, Trevor. Have you forgotten who I am and what I’m capable of?”

“Oh how could I? You are the mother of my child and you’re obsessed with getting into trouble. See, maybe I’m overprotective, but at least, I’m responsible.”

“So you say I’m not?!”

“Sypha!”

She looked at Alucard distracted. “What?” She frowned seeing him pointing at her skirt and spoke before looking down. “You think you’re better dressed in your birthday suite than I am? What in heaven’s name has happened to your skin anyways? Have you knocked into an electric fence?”

He glanced down at his precisely perpendicular burn-marks then back at her with a raised brow and burning cheeks. “Well, almost accurate. As a side note, I believe, your water broke.”

“What?!”

The two parents fixated on her wet robes visibly thunderstruck.

“How long do you have left?” Mia asked with a smile.

“I-I don’t quite know,” Sypha said, her face turning white.

“Were you not examined by a midwife earlier?”

“No. Had no time. We were on the road for so long, we were planning to meet my people so that they could check me out but ... We-we were thinking we still have time, we...” Sypha held on to Trevor’s hand, and he supported her as much as a man could who needed support himself.

“Is this it?” he asked in a breath.

“It seems so, you’re going to be a daddy!” Mia told him and stroked Sypha’s arm gently. “Don’t be frightened.”

“Easy for you to say,” Trevor muttered.

Mia ignored him and looked at Alucard. “Would you like to help? You are very good with medical practices.”

His eyes widened and he took a step back. Trevor barked “No!” before he could utter a word.

Alucard cleared his throat. “I’d rather let you do ... whatever you’re going to do.” He looked at Sypha. “Mia is a trained midwife.”

“Oh...”

Mia nodded. “All sisters in the Order of Valenia are. Come now. And you two,” she turned to the boys. “Don’t look so pale! Be merry. A new life is about to be born.”

She gently pulled Sypha close. “I’ll help. Just come.” The two women smiled in wonderment and started for the Castle.

Alucard looked at Trevor who was standing there petrified watching them walk away. He then collapsed on the tree trunk taking shallow breaths. Alucard sat next to him with an amused smile.

“You do remember you’re not the one giving birth, don’t you?”

“This is it, Alucard. This is the moment,” Trevor muttered gazing ahead. Alucard was surprised to see his friend shaking like a leaf.

He put a hand on his shoulder. “She’ll be fine. They both will be.”

“I’m gonna be a father. I ... I wanted this for so long.” Trevor looked at him determined. “I want to be the best father a kid can ever have. A better one than my own.” He shrugged chuckling. “A much better one than yours.”

“Well, if you don’t teach that kid how to impale other kids in school, you’ll know you’re on the right track.”

Trevor gaped. “Did he actually teach you that?”

“No!” Alucard laughed. “Had he done so, we wouldn’t have had to go into so much trouble killing him. My mother would have done that the moment she found out.” He shrugged. “I read it in his journals. There are fairly accurate descriptions if you’re interested in having a good gory nightmare.”

“Uhm, I’d say I’m fine with my own medium-gory, Estate-burning, lynching nightmares for the rest of this life. But thanks.”

Alucard patted his back, and they started for the Castle.

“If we’re at it, what’s this chequered pattern all over you?” Trevor asked absently. “It reminds me of the nasty marks left by the bondage that the girls in a Brassow brothel use.”

Alucard looked at him with a raised brow, and he backpedaled.

“I-I mean a fellow of mine told me about it, of course…”

“Of course. Because you were still a virgin when you and Sypha met.” Alucard shrugged finding that he didn’t feel any embarrassment over his scars anymore. “The good thing about you guys getting a baby is that you’ll be too busy to play twenty questions about my private life.”

Trevor scoffed. “Don’t even mention twenty questions. You can’t believe how tired of it you can get after days on the road with a Speaker who needs only one or two shots at _anything_ you can think of.”

“How about next time you try thinking of something more complex than beer?”

“Very funny.” Trevor squinted, and they went inside.

* * *

Labor took a long time, and the two men were waiting outside of the room sometimes pacing, sometimes sitting on the stairs, sometimes talking, sometimes in silence. When Sypha’s screams grew louder and were eventually replaced by a tiny voice, Trevor seemed ready to break into the room. Alucard watched him where he was sitting on top of the stairs with his back to the wall and a book in his lap with much less amusement than six hours ago.

“Do you hear that?!” Trevor asked gluing his ear on the door.

“Actually a lot louder than you do. I’ll probably need to soundproof parts of the Castle if I don’t want to lose my hearing,” he muttered – that baby had some lungs! “Move away from the door before it breaks your nose, Belmont. Your face is ugly as it is already.”

Trevor started pacing. “Ah, god, what is going on?! Why isn’t Mia coming out? What would it take for her to just stick her nose out and say, everything is fine?”

Alucard raised his head again from the book. “Stop going crazy, Trevor. Mia will call you the moment you can see them. Just wait a few more minutes, will you?”

“Stop going crazy, aha, good idea, Alucard. How about me telling you the same when our roles are reversed, ha?” He went on pacing again. “What the hell is taking so long?”

“These things take long,” he turned a page.

Trevor stopped and glared at him. “You’re not helping, you know that.”

“You told me so four hours ago. And every twenty minutes or so since then. Nice to know there are reliable things in the universe, now stop the tantrum and wait patiently.”

“Ah, god,” Trevor wiped his face and started pacing again.

In a few minutes however, Sypha’s screams continued, and the two men stared at each other petrified.

“What is happening?” Trevor asked, his face was ashen. “This isn’t supposed to be happening, is it? The baby is out, what is going on to make her scream?!”

Alucard stood fixating on the door. “I do not know.” His last word was knocked out of him because he had to grab hold of Trevor to stop him from breaking into the room.

“Stop it, Belmont!” he held his friend from behind trying hard not to break any of his bones. “They don’t need two dirty brutes interfering with the lady’s business.”

“But something is wrong! Don’t you hear her?”

“I do, but we cannot help. So please, argh...”

Trevor made another attempt to break free by landing his elbow in Alucard’s ribs, but he caught Trevor again, and they wrestled for a good few minutes until finally the door opened, and Mia stepped out. Alucard let Trevor go panting as Mia closed the door and went up to them. Her face was ... She was not smiling. Alucard thought with a lump in his throat.

Trevor must have seen something too because without a word he leaped to the door.

“Wait, Trevor, please!”

He turned back to her. “What is it? What is happening?”

Mia bowed her head, and he grabbed her arm.

“Talk already, for fuck’s sake!”

She gasped, and Alucard wordlessly grasped his wrist and pulled his hand off her arm. She hugged herself and barely could look into his eyes.

“Tell me,” Trevor whispered, and she looked at him with glinting eyes. “Is she...?”

“Sypha is alive. She’s ... she’s very weak, the birth ... It was very difficult, Trevor.”

“And the baby?”

She sighed. “During her pregnancy, as no one examined her, you couldn’t have known that there were not one but _two_ babies.”

“Two babies?!” the men exclaimed in unison.

She nodded. “Yes. The little boy was first to be born. He is a little smaller than babies usually are, but that is because twins often born a little earlier than they should. He ... he seems healthy.” She watched the changing emotions on Trevor’s face, Alucard guessed, she wanted to let him process all she’d said.

“What-what of the other baby?” he stammered.

“A little girl. She...” Mia bowed her head. “I’m sorry, Trevor.”

“No,” he breathed.

She looked into his eyes with tears in her own. “She was still-born.”

The words hung in the air freezing Trevor’s features and body as if he was a breathing sculpture. His form blurred, and Alucard bowed his head as he felt his tears roll down his cheek. A dead baby. A dead little girl. Could anything happy occur in his cursed home at all?

“You have to focus on Sypha and the little boy,” he heard Mia talking to Trevor again. “They’ll need you more than ever. They’ll need you to be strong and solid as you always are.” She took his hand and tried to smile. “You have a son, Trevor. A son.”

Trevor took his hand away. His features didn’t change. Alucard knew he heard nothing of what Mia said after those terrible-terrible words. He turned and slowly walked into the room.

Alucard sniffled and looked at Mia. “Are you sure, nothing could be done?” he asked. “I read in my mother’s books that infants can make miraculous recoveries! Maybe there’s something...”

“No, Adrian. The umbilical cord. It strangled her during the birth. There’s nothing to be done.”

Alucard sighed then swallowed the lump in his throat. They followed Trevor into the oddly silent room. Sypha was lying with her baby in her arms completely exhausted. She tried to catch Trevor’s gaze, but it was as if he didn’t even notice her or his son. He walked up to the cradle where in a bundle of clean cloths there lay his daughter. He just stood there looking at her in silence, his face betrayed nothing of what might have been going on in his head, Alucard thought. He then gently gathered the tiny body in his arms and simply went out.

“Trevor!” Sypha cried cutting through the pregnant silence.

Mia put a hand on Alucard’s arm. “Don’t leave him alone!”

He nodded and with a last backward glance at Sypha and the baby-boy, followed his friend.

He didn’t quite know what to tell him. Was there a point in trying to stop him? He wasn’t even sure what Trevor was up to. He figured, he had no choice but to follow him. They walked a long way before Trevor finally stopped, and Alucard looked up at the enormous dead oak tree towering above them. This was his tree, Trevor’s tree. Alucard stood next to him not sure if he noticed his presence. He did, because he started to talk on a distant voice.

“After the Estate was burned to the ground, and I finally dared to go back to see what happened to my parents, all I found were their remains ... their scorched bones among the ruins. A hip, a shin – part of a skull, on the verge of turning into ash. I was terrified. But I knew I just cannot leave them there like that. So I gathered all I could find. And then buried them here. This tree. It is our family tomb.”

He fell to his knees and with one hand started digging. Alucard swallowed his tears and knelt next to him. He stopped his hand and squeezing it gently looked into his eyes.

“Let me do it, Alucard. It is my job...” Trevor said shakily.

Alucard nodded. “Maybe. But you don’t have to do this _alone_.”

Trevor just stared into his eyes, and he went on.

“Wait here and say your prayers. I’ll come back in a minute." He looked deep into his friend's grief-stricken eyes. "Let me help.”

Trevor stared at him for a long moment, then nodded hesitantly and sat with his back to the tree trunk cuddling his baby.

Alucard returned in a short time. Along he brought a shovel and a tiny coffin. He put the crate in front of Trevor who looked at him shocked. The coffin had a glass lid.

“It was mine,” Alucard said. “My mother was not happy about it. But it is part of the family heritage to sleep in a coffin so she allowed me to do so sometimes. She’d watch me over during those nights.” He looked into his friend’s eyes. “It is the most difficult thing for a human to see your baby in such a crate.”

Trevor looked from him to the coffin. He raised his free hand and ran his fingers along the golden edge of the glass. He then slowly opened the lid and turned over the delicate woolen blanket. Finally, he lay his baby-girl inside. When the lid was closed again, his tears ran down his cheeks.

Alucard watched him fighting his own tears. He’d never seen Trevor cry. They’d been through so many things, he always seemed so nonchalant and carefree. As if nothing ever could touch him more than skin-deep. The most reaction he ever showed was some mild anger. Now, here he was sobbing over his daughter’s coffin.

“I wanted a girl,” Trevor whispered and stroked the glass. “I wanted to call her Lea. My sister. That was her name.”

Alucard watched him stunned. He didn’t even know he had a sister.

Trevor sniffled and wiped his face. “She was so beautiful and smart. Mia’s brother was her husband. She died that night, they both did. With the others.”

Alucard glanced away. So the Belmonts and Renards were actually one family. He looked back at Trevor. His friend seemed lost in his memories and slowly he started to speak in a distant voice.

“You know the women were herded back into the burning house. We, the men, were watching it, we couldn’t do anything about it … I was drowning in my tears and snot and the blood from my forehead. My father and my sister’s husband, they tried to fight … despite their terrible wounds, despite being weaponless and … they yelled at me to run. And I did. I ran. I heard the screams of my mother and my sister as they watched the good people slaughter down their men with straightened scythes and … and I didn’t stop.”

He sat back on his heals staring into mid distance. “What point does it all have? To have a new family and bury them under the very same tree?”

“Sypha and your son are alive, Trevor.”

“And for how long?”

Alucard let out a guilty breath. “You know, I never asked you to stay and wait up for Isaac, you-”

“It’s not about Isaac. We’re a family of warriors. We’re looking for trouble, and dying in a battle is not something I fear. But this… This is senseless. The destruction of my family. It was senseless. And the death of my baby-girl…” he shook his head as his distress bubbled to the surface again.

Alucard watched him crying and had never felt more lost for words than in that moment. Finally, Trevor staggered to his feet and took the shovel. Each movement seemed to be mere pain as he dug the tiny grave, and Alucard was not sure he’d be able to finish. But he did, and they lay the little coffin in, then covered it with dirt.

“I’ll make a cross for her, if you wish.”

Trevor shook his head looking only at the tiny mound. “No. No cross. Sypha wouldn’t want it. And... I don’t want it. The sign of a god that could take her away before she even drew a breath has no place on my daughter’s grave.”

He turned, and they went back to the Castle. Trevor seemed to turn in on himself completely, and Alucard was not sure if he’d hear it if he said anything to him on the way. Not that he felt like talking.

They went back up to the room, but Trevor stopped before entering and just stared at the knob numbly. Alucard was about to step next to him to open the door when Trevor finally spoke up.

“The girls,” he said in a low voice.

Alucard frowned unsure, and he went on looking at him as if waking from a dream.

“The girls, Alucard. They need to leave.”

“What do you-.”

Trevor turned to him as if he had just awoken from a nightmare and lucidity returned into his groggy mind. “Or what was the plan? When those two fanatics get here, what _is_ the plan?”

Alucard bowed his head. “The plan was to send you and Sypha, and the baby away.”

“And you two stay behind?” Trevor asked with a disbelieving frown.

Alucard threw his hands up. “What choice do I have, Trevor, seriously? Sypha is weak and needs rest. And you are a father now, you have a responsibility. And Mia...”

“Mia cannot stay either, for god's sake!”

Alucard let out a breath. “I know. But I promised her never to send her away again.”

“She’s completely defenceless, Alucard, she-”

“Ah, I know, I ... I was planning to make her go through the mirror when the time comes.”

Trevor's frown deepened. “So you’d face the army alone? For fuck’s sake has all your wits left you?”

“Trevor-“

“Since when letting Isaac get to your blood is a good idea? Or do you really think you can fight that army alone?"

"I know I cannot, I … I’d simply go back under Gresit.”

Trevor took a moment to process the information. “And then what? Isaac will follow and do the bloodletting on you in your sweet slumber. He has a mirror, he just needs to look into it to see where you are, you cannot just hide and be done with it.”

“My intention is not to hide from him. I just … Remember, I have dozens of traps guarding my sleep there. It took both you and Sypha to get through. Those things cannot be outnumbered, the army would be useless in the catacombs, and if my traps can kill the two forge-masters, the growth of the army would stop. Isaac has no such skills as you two, he’d never get my blood to revive my father if he had to go through the catacombs for it.”

Trevor let out a frustrated breath and took a few paces. “Perfect. Just perfect. You eliminated the chance to resurrect Dracula, great.” He turned back to Alucard. “What about the existing army? Wherever they go, it’s feeding on humans. Who is going to stand up against them if Sypha and I are running and you’re doing your beauty sleep?”

“What do you want of me, Belmont?” Alucard burst out. “Tell me! If I lock myself up, I’m a coward, who is not willing to deal with the mess left by his father. If I don’t lock myself up, I’m running the risk of tipping the scales in their favours and aiding them with an insurmountable enemy. Which one is the lesser of two evils in your opinion?”

“Stop this!” they heard from behind and gaped at the two girls standing in the doorway, Sypha leaning heavily on Mia.

She pulled away and staggered up to Trevor then slapped him on the face as hard as she could.

“Because it’s only you who’s in pain, right? The only one who’s lost a child! You dare run off? Without a glance at your son? Without a glance at your wife?”

“You’re not my wife! You yourself said so a thousand times over that you don’t want to belong to me,” Trevor shouted back, his desperation palpable.

“I do belong to you! Don’t you see?” she sobbed. “Whether I want it or not. I’m fated for you. I’m your wife in all ways but on paper, if you don’t see that, if you don’t _feel_ that, we really have no business with each other.”

She turned, but he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her.

Alucard felt a hand snaking down his lower arm and tiny fingers entwined through his. He looked into Mia’s tear-filled eyes and squeezed her hand.

Trevor and Sypha broke away and stared into each other’s soul. She then turned to Alucard, leaning heavily on Trevor.

“There’s no point in running away or committing suicide all alone, Alucard. This stops here, when they get here. We face them, we’ll fight them, and we’ll send them back to where they belong for good.”

“Sypha, you have a baby to think about.”

“I know,” she breathed and looked at Mia. “He’ll be in good hands while Mommy and Daddy are creating a world for him to be worth living.”

Alucard looked from her to Mia who was grasping his hand as if her life depended on it.

“Come now,” Sypha said to Trevor. “Meet your son. Meet Leon Belnades-Belmont.”

“Leon...” he whispered awed.

She nodded with tears in her eyes. “Leon. The first of the Belmonts. He’ll be the first of a new generation of Belmonts.”

Trevor kissed her and then picked her up and carried her inside.

* * *

After Trevor finally met his son, he and Sypha took turns in cuddling the little boy while Mia explained to them the basics of what to do around a baby, and Alucard sneaked out to make them dinner. By the time he returned, the small family were sleeping in the bed, and Mia was not in the room. He quietly closed the door then went to look for her. To his surprise, he found her on the stairs outside. She was sitting there crouching, hugging her knees.

He walked down to her. “I made dinner, but the others are already sleeping so I thought ... Mia?”

She looked at him with glinting eyes then wiping her cheek turned back to the dark forest.

He sat next to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Hey...”

She wordlessly cuddled into him and broke down crying. He stroked her hair, but it seemed to have no use, she held on to him and sobbed.

“That baby ... that poor baby ...”

“It’s not your fault, Mia.”

She pulled away. “No, maybe not. But ... Adrian they didn’t even know that she was having twins! No one checked her for months. I had no idea. If I did, I would have checked her, I would have-”

“It’s not your fault, Mia. Many babies die, it’s always a wonder if one survives in our times.”

“Ah, I know, but … maybe with your mother’s notes, if we had more time we could have figured something out. But we didn’t. ... and we don’t.” She shook her head, dread in her eyes. “She can’t even have time to properly recover. They can’t have time to get to know their baby, and ... and we can’t have time to be happy. And it’s all because a madman wants your blood! What chances do the three of you have against that army? What is a baby going to do in a world where he’ll never know his parents, a world full of night creatures, where humans are fugitives and will slowly become extinct? What future will he have in the care of a woman mad with grief and guilt for leaving her love and friends to their fate? What is the point at all?” She sobbed bowing her head.

He squeezed her hands in his. “Enough of this, now,” he said firmly. “You had to help with a twin birth and deal with a dead baby. You’re exhausted, and you had nothing to eat all day. You’ll see everything in a different light tomorrow, so come now.”

“No, Adrian. Tomorrow will not be any different. The only difference there will be is the fact that we are one day closer to the one when I have to leave, and you three are staying here to face a certain death!”

“Mia, we’ve done this before. Trevor is right, we faced far worse than what’s coming. Have you ever seen those two fight? Sypha is amazing, and – never tell him I said this, but – Trevor is freakishly skilful and strong for a human. I’m very glad he’s not a vampire, otherwise yesterday, he’d have knocked the brain matter out of my head with that shovel.”

“Sypha is weak. She’s through a very difficult birth. And they lost a child with Trevor, and have to let go the other in a few days. You saw how he was today, he’ll be no different when he loses his other baby, he’ll be drunk and grief-stricken ... And you ... I know you’re strong, but they are just simply too many, Adrian.” She leaned close and took his face in her palms. “Allow me to stay,” she whispered.

He frowned surprised. “No, Mia, please don’t do this. We agreed. The baby needs somebody-”

“The baby needs his parents. But they have as little chance of survival as he himself in a world that would soon be devoured by night creatures.”

“Mia...”

“Adrian, I could help!”

“You’re not ready. That spell was just an accident, you-”

“No, I don’t mean by spell-casting.”

He frowned even more confused. “Then how?”

“Turn me.”

“What?” he breathed.

She looked at him with unbreakable determination that was almost scary. “Turn me, Adrian. Turn me into a vampire.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mia's attempt at summoning a dragon was inspired by the games where Maria accidentally summons a dragon which needs to be fought.
> 
> Thanks for reading it! As always, feedback is always welcome! :)


	16. Chapter 16

Alucard pulled on his coat and adjusted his hair watching his reflection doing the same in the mirror where he was standing in his darkened basement room. There was a deafening silence all around him. Deep, all-consuming, the kind that allowed only the darkest of thoughts to emerge.

Rain was pouring as if it never wanted to stop that morning. The mist rising from the mountains was devoured by the thick grey clouds, feeding their grief with an endless supply of tears. Alucard took Mia into his arms one last time and pressed his lips to hers. It wasn’t a kiss driven by mindless passion that so often took the better of him. It was a kiss that would burn into his mind and soul for all eternity, petrified into perfection by every second that had passed since then.

_In his mind’s eye he could see them sitting on the stairs outside his Castle that night a week before, he barely wanting to believe the words that had left her lips: “Turn me, Adrian. Turn me into a vampire.”_

_He could only stare as she went on, despair all over her face._

_“This is the only way I could help. And that would be our only chance for a life together. A real life.” She squeezed his hand. “God sees my soul that I’m not scared to die. I’m not scared for myself. But I’m scared for you. I do believe we’d meet again. But you ... you don’t, do you?”_

_His heart clenched. Truth was he never dared to ponder it. His father was in hell, his mother was in hell and he was sure, he’d go to hell himself when the time came. But Mia. She was a good, innocent soul who never got excommunicated like his mother. He looked at her and swallowed seeing her glinting eyes. No, he did not believe they’d meet beyond the grave. And the human life was so short and fragile..._

_He bowed his head then turned back to the darkness around them._

_“Look around, Mia,” he whispered tormented. “If I did what you’re asking me to do, this is all you’d be left with for the rest of eternity. The endless night.” He looked back at her, and his eyes filled seeing her tears again. “My father never turned my mother. He loved her too much to take away the sun from her. He loved her too much to make her heart freeze, to doom her to a life without life. Like a firefly in amber. Beautiful but not a real firefly anymore.” He stroked her cheek, and she took his hand. “If ever you’d be ready, I’d do it. If you ever feel that this is what you really want. But I won’t do it because you’re scared. Or ... because I am.”_

He pulled away from her that morning, standing in the pouring rain and looked into her eyes. Her tears mixed with the rain on her cheeks. He knew she wanted to beg him one last time to reconsider. As she did every night throughout their last week together. And he was tempted. Now, more than ever to grant her wish and never let her go.

She opened her mouth but, he cupped her cheek and stroked her lower lip with his thumb before she could utter the words. He leaned to her, his forehead against hers, and he knew she understood. If she’d entreated one more time, his will would have finally crumbled and the fact that she did not say the words, filled him with grim satisfaction over his decision of not turning her. She did not want this. They did not want this.

He pulled away and looked at their clasped hands. The rings they’d exchanged that morning in the presence of their friends and under the blessing of the Speaker Elder, Sypha’s grandfather.

Alucard turned the ring on his finger standing in his room. Mia had her nun ring to wear, and he …

That early morning, he walked into his childhood room with a faint trembling around his heart. He hadn’t been in there for a long time. Everything was the way he’d left it. The blood on the sheet he was wrapped in the night he had to kill Sumi and Taka turned brown almost black. The carpet still had the torn patch on the exact spot where his father had died. And his ring was still lying there catching the light. He walked up to it and took it into his hand tenderly. The token of his father’s eternal love for his mother. The proof that he did have a tiny portion of humanity in him. The only good part of him. He clutched his fist around it. He wanted to remember that and not the fact that that same love took his father’s sanity away.

He let his ring go and pulled on his gloves. He barely remembered the last time he wore them. It was odd to wear them over the ring. He sighed. That ring was now the token of his love for Mia. They were husband and wife bound not by the blessing of a corrupt Church or a cruel God but by their own decision, their own will, and their love. It felt right.

He turned around, away from his mirror. His eyes fell on his coffin. Their wedding bed. He shut his eyes remembering her taste. The way she moved against him. That joyous helplessness in her arms. Their sweat mixing – their tears mixing. Her lips on his own, her tears on his cheeks, the rain washing away both. He swirled around, grabbed his mirror and with an animalistic growl emerging from his throat sent it flying across the room with all the might he had. It shattered into tiny fragments against the wall and scattered on the floor. He watched the faint light playing on the shards gasping, and his throat closed. A broken mirror meant death. And he did feel like dying that day.

He swallowed and straightened his coat. He then went to his chair for his belt and clasped it around his waist with a slight shake of his hands. His sword obediently slid into its sheath. By the time he stepped out into the night, his all his self-control returned. He looked at the pitch-dark forest and just breathed slowly. It was almost time.

He felt a presence behind him, and he turned to Sypha who stood there with red-rimmed eyes. He saw in his mind’s eye as she handed her baby to Mia that morning and then Trevor needed to help her remain standing. She sobbed into him close to losing her mind, and he could tell that Trevor was not much better off either. And they did it for him. They gave up being with their baby and remained here to face a deadly enemy for him. He was not sure he deserved the kind of friends they were. He stepped to her and wordlessly put his arms around her. She cuddled into him for a short moment then pulled away with a tired sigh.

“Where’s that good-for-nothing husband of yours?” As of that morning, that title was true. They got married after he and Mia did.

Sypha snorted. “Ransacking your bar, I believe.”

“And you let him?” he asked with a tiny smile.

She shrugged. “It’s not my reprimand that I want him to have as a last memory of me.”

“Sypha…”

“Stop the doom-mongering, already, woman,” they heard and turned to Trevor. He had two glasses and a bottle of cognac in his hands. “We’re not dying today,” he said handing Sypha one of the glasses who gave him a deadly look for the endearment. He ignored her pouring into the glass. “We are prepared, and we have a plan. We kill as many as we can, and try to get to the forge-masters. Once they are dead, the army is cut off reinforcement.” He poured into his own glass too. “If the ground turns too hot, we’ll get the hell out of there.”

“I’d not call for hell right about now,” Alucard muttered then nodded to the beverage. “What about me?”

“Oh, here,” Trevor said and handed him the bottle. “There isn’t a big enough glass that would have the same effect on you as this on us,” he said holding up his glass. He looked at Sypha who was smelling the dark liquid with a grimace. “Drink it, you need this, trust me.” He held up his glass. “Here’s to getting out of this mess in one piece.”

“And to see our loved ones again,” Sypha said silently.

“And for me to never see a certain loved one again,” Alucard said glancing at his father’s ring. What would he say seeing him wearing it? he mused suddenly. He sure as hell didn’t want to find out.

Trevor chuckled, and they drank.

* * *

The breaking of the red dawn behind the mountains merged into the smoke rising from the smouldering forest around the Castle. As if the fire consumed all of Wallachia as far as the eye could see. Alucard had only a fraction of a second to contemplate the dreadful-beautiful sight before having to take cover to avoid being burned by the enormous gargoyle flying above his head. He sent his fireballs at it in return, and the night creature fell out of the sky just to be replaced by two others. It had no end.

He looked to his right gasping, wiping his bloody hair out of his forehead. Trevor was surrounded by heaps of dead night creatures, his shirt and hands covered in blood. He couldn’t tell if it was theirs or his. Alucard disappeared and reappeared behind his friend just in time to fend off the sharp claws of a crow-like creature, behind him a loud blast and a shriek told him another one of those just died by Trevor’s whip. He looked around, they kept coming, closing in on them.

All of a sudden, a wave of fire swept away ten of the creatures surrounding them, giving them a breathing space, and they both looked up at the sky. There was an enormous dragon circling the steeples of the Castle, and on its back, there sat Sypha.

“I thought you two needed a bit of help,” she yelled in a laugh.

“Show-off!” Trevor shouted back.

“She almost seems to be enjoying herself,” Alucard raised a surprised brow.

“Doesn’t just _seem_.”

“But after six hours?”

“I know. It borders on compulsion,” Trevor growled under his breath. "Not exactly a life-insurance to bind myself to her, is it."

" _Now_ you're thinking?" Alucard asked in a chuckle.

Sypha made the dragon land in front of them and got off on top of the pile of dead creatures, then sent it right into the approaching army. The two men climbed up next to her and watched as the dragon tore apart a bunch of creatures before disappearing into thin air when the spell wore out.

“And that, my dear sirs, is how it looks when an expert level magician summons a creature,” Sypha told them with a slight nod inviting their appreciation.

The next moment Trevor swept her off her feet, and they ducked just in time to avoid being burned by an approaching creature. Alucard’s sword killed it then returned to its owner, and the three of them looked at each other suddenly desperate behind their bizarre cover of bodies. They were exhausted. And the two humans were hurt. Not badly, but it was enough to drain their energy.

“This is pointless if we cannot get to Isaac,” Alucard said.

Trevor nodded and looked at Sypha. “Did you see him? From up there.”

She shook her head.

“Then we’re fucked. Should we run?” Trevor asked Alucard.

He honestly didn’t know what to reply to that. If they ran now to get their bearings, without killing at least one of the forge-masters, in a week’s time, the army would be back to its full strength.

“I won’t. But you should,” he replied finally.

Trevor rolled his eyes. “I thought we were over this.”

“Wait,” Sypha said looking around alert.

“What?” Trevor asked. They could see nothing but the piles of corpses all around.

“Don’t you hear it?”

They all stared at each other stunned. Silence. The roaring and whining of the creatures were replaced by silence.

“Wait here,” Alucard said.

“Of course,” Trevor growled, and all three of them climbed up the corpses in dreadful anticipation. The sight that greeted them on the other side made all of them gape.

The army of night creatures stood in an almost orderly fashion side-by-side on the bloody clearing and in the forest surrounding it. In front of them stood Isaac with a straight back and a tight jaw.

“Greetings, Alucard of Wallachia,” he said in his silent tone.

The three friends exchanged confused glances, but then climbed off the pile of carcasses and stood a few yards away from the forge-master and his army.

Isaac took a small step toward them. “I did not come here to harm you.”

Alucard raised an eyebrow. “And yet,” he motioned to the army and to the blood covering the battle field.

“Oh, this was just a small demonstration of power, nothing more.” Isaac looked deep in his eyes. “If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead by now.”

Trevor snorted. “You’re over-estimating yourself a _little_ bit, don’t you think? You’re nothing more than a dirty necromancer.”

“ _This_ coming from a dirty hunter means even less than you’d think.” Isaac spread his arms slightly. “I am the one who will finish the work my master has started. I am what _he_ made me.”

“You’re a lunatic,” Sypha spat. “You turn against your own kind.”

Isaac tilted his head surprised. “Do I, now? Or is it my own kind that turns against me every step of the way?” He shrugged with a thoughtful frown. “Wherever I went in this life, there was nothing but cruelty and abuse. People who claim to love can only use violence to show that love. Why do you mourn a world ending in that same violence?”

“Not everybody is cruel or violent. You’re mistaken, and your mistake is taking the lives of innocents. Or do you think cruelty can heal a cruel world?” Sypha asked.

Isaac turned his head to Alucard. “What do you think, son of Vlad Dracula Tepes?”

Alucard stared into his eyes for a long moment. Then his hand clutched his sword. “I think it stops here and now!”

But Isaac held up his palm. “Stop!” he shouted, and the command was so surprising that Alucard did obey.

Then they heard it. The crying of an infant coming from inside the forest.

Sypha gasped, and the three of them watched in dread as the night creatures moved aside to give way to the small group of Speakers coming out into the clearing. They stopped next to Isaac and looked around terrified at the two enormous creatures guarding them with spears and claws and teeth.

“Grandfather!” Sypha cried. Little baby-Leon was in the old man’s arms, crying softly.

“He’s fine, my child, don’t worry,” the Elder said holding the baby close.

Alucard’s eyes moved from one face to the next, to the next, over and over again, fighting off the torturous thought: he let Mia go with them! Defenceless. With only a day’s worth of leeway between them and the army. – Why? Why weren't they considering the possibility that Isaac could have more than a _simple_ distance mirror?!

“Are you looking for her?” they heard Hector’s voice, and his silhouette formed against the fog and took up a dreadful shape. He held Mia with her back against his chest; the point of a blade placed with such surgical precision under her ribs that if she moved even an inch, it would slide into her heart.

Alucard’s eyes glued to hers. She was frightened but strangely determined.

Hector pulled her close glaring at Alucard. “Don’t even let it cross your mind if you want to see her live. I hate taking lives, it is my destiny to give life back where others cannot, but I won’t think twice to take hers. If you _make_ me.”

Mia whimpered feeling the blade pressed into her Speaker robes almost cutting into them.

Alucard let his sword fall to the ground. “I-I won’t try anything. None of us will.” He looked back at Isaac, his pulse drumming in his ears. “I’ll give it to you. Just don’t hurt her. Don’t hurt them.” His voice was strangely calm compared to the elemental terror that coursed through his veins.

“You’ll give it to me?” Isaac asked curious. “You do not know what it is I want.”

“You want my blood, do you not?” Alucard asked breathless. “You want to bring my father back from the dead, and you need my blood to do it.”

Isaac looked at him genuinely surprised, then understanding dawned on him, and he glanced at Mia. “You do read Arabic, do you not, my Lady? You translated the spell, so you think you know,” he finished turning back to Alucard.

“Yes. So just … just let all my friends go, and you can do whatever you wish with my blood.”

“No!” Mia cried and whimpered when she felt the blade pressing against her again.

“Stop it, Mia,” Trevor shouted. “Shut the fuck up, this is not the time to be a hero.”

Alucard just looked straight into Isaac’s eyes. “No one has to get hurt. You won.” His claws appeared, and he tightened his hands into fists then held his bleeding hand up. “Give me a vial, and my blood is yours. _I_ am yours. You can avenge my father any way you wish on me, because it’s on me! I killed him. I killed your master. So just let them go, and take me.”

“No…” Mia muttered, her tears running down her cheeks.

“It’s alright, love,” Alucard told her, his voice quivered. “Everything will be fine, I promise you.” He looked back at Isaac. “Take my offer and let them live. You’d have no use of my blood if I’m dead, and if you harm them. I'll make sure you won’t get to my blood before it turned into gore, if you do.”

Isaac shook his head slowly. “You do not understand, Alucard. I do not merely want your blood. I do not merely want revenge.” He raised his hand, and one of the night creatures stabbed a Speaker to death. The man slumped to the ground with a growl.

“Stop!” Sypha shouted, and Trevor grasped her before she could run to them.

Isaac went on. “The life of these humans matter not to me. And neither to your father.” Another stab, another Speaker dead. “They are irrelevant.”

“Stop it!” Sypha cried and sent a thin ice-dagger flying across the field killing the night creature instantly. The remaining Speakers held on to each other shaking and sobbing.

The next moment, the razor-sharp blade of an axe swept through their necks, and they were dead without a whimper before their bodies hit the ground.

“No!” Sypha sobbed fighting mightily against Trevor who held her in a steel grip while his eyes were glued to the bleeding body of the Elder knowing that his son was still in the dead-man’s arms, under the heaps of corpses. Sypha was screaming with grief.

Isaac took a step toward them looking at Alucard. “I do not merely wish to bring your father back to life. I want to give him back everything that was taken from him. Everything. His life, his Castle, his army. And his stray son.”

Alucard gasped. “What?”

“I want you to join us,” Isaac said. “Join your father’s holy war.”

“That holy war started for my mother. He is with my mother now, so the war has no point! He wouldn’t want to come back. If you revive him now, he’ll not thank you as you expect, he’ll just kill you.”

Isaac looked at them with an almost kind smile. “I’m surprised you’d come up with something as preposterous as that. You truly must be desperate.”

“It is true!” Trevor shouted. “Dracula is in hell. With his wife. We saw him, he has no wish to return.”

Isaac pondered what he heard, and Alucard prayed that what they said reached his deranged mind, but shortly Isaac simply turned up his palm and said. “It is for him to decide. Not for you. If what you say is true, I need to hear it from him. If he wants me dead, I’ll welcome it when the time is here. Until then, I’m his Governor, the executioner of his will. The way his son should be.”

Alucard looked from Mia trapped in Hector’s arms to Isaac and nodded. “Fine. I’ll join you. If you let my friends go, I’ll join you, you have my word.”

An astonished smile appeared on Isaac’s lips. “You are unbelievably naïve, Alucard! They are not here to be bargained for. She is!” he pointed to Mia. Then back to Sypha and Trevor. “They are here for you to prove you mean what you say. Kill them! Kill them both, and show Dracula that you mean you regretted your betrayal. Kill them now!”

Alucard felt the ground was pulled out from under his feet. He looked into the eyes of his two friends – and felt his hand grasping the handle of this sword. No! He couldn’t. He couldn’t do this. But his body was moving, and his sword was already drawn.

Trevor grasped his whip. “No hard feelings Alucard, but you do understand I have to make the choice between my wife and your friendship same as you do.”

But their desperate exchange was suddenly cut off by Mia's scream.

“No!” they heard Hector’s bewildered moan and turned to where he was still holding Mia against him. The first thing that Alucard saw was a patch of vivid red growing on her sky-blue robes. Then he saw the drops sliding down the blade and dripping from the handle and from Hector’s fist where he was holding on to it. And finally, his mind registered that the dagger was deep in her chest, under her ribs.

She took in a ragged breath, her look tormented.

“Mia…” Alucard whispered. It wasn't real. I couldn't be real.

“It is … alright, love. They won’t win.” She gasped for breath. “I-I promise you,” she moaned looking into Alucard’s eyes – blood was trickling down her chin and from the corner of her mouth in the wake of her weak cough. “I promise we’ll meet again. Ah… wait for me …” Her eyes closed, and she slid to the ground out of Hector’s now half-hearted grasp. In his complete shock, he could only stare at her lifeless body at his feet. His bloody dagger slid out of his fingers.

For a long moment, every one of them stood there petrified.

“It wasn’t me!” Hector cried staring into Isaac’s disbelieving eyes with sheer terror in his own. “I swear it was her!”

And as the world started to move again, Alucard’s claws appeared, and his face contorted into his worst vampiric form, a long wail emerging from his throat. He jumped the two forge-masters, and all hell broke loose.

His way was blocked by two enormous creatures. His sword stabbed one, and he simply ripped out the throat of the other with a motion of his hand. Never did killing feel as natural as in that moment! And he wanted more! He wanted – needed – all of them dead. _All_ of them!

He ripped apart body after body, his eyes couldn’t see, his body couldn’t feel though he was dealt many wounds and lost a lot of blood. All he could feel, all he _was_ was a blind rage.

And then suddenly, the next face was not that of a horrifying night creature’s. The next face was Trevor Belmont’s – and Alucard stopped short just for an instant, before simply grasping him by the arm and throwing him out of his way. He then felt his friend’s arms around his body from behind, while the creature in front of them disintegrated in a ball of fire. He looked to the side: Sypha was behind them, in her arm, a small bundle held tightly to her heart.

“Come on!” she shouted and started to run for the Castle.

Trevor dragged Alucard along.

“Let me go, Belmont!” he screamed tearing himself out of his grasp.

The next thing he knew was Trevor grabbing his collar and shouting into his face. “If we stay, Mia died for nothing!”

Trevor’s voice broke. His eyes were filled with tears. Alucard looked down at his fists where he was grasping his coat. The gesture was desperate. His whole presence was desperate. He looked back at the night creatures advancing toward them. He only had a fraction of a second to decide. There were hundreds of creatures to be killed, and the forge-masters were already long gone. And Mia … she was gone too.

Alucard grabbed Trevor by the arm, and his eyes glowed red before they both disappeared. He then grasped Sypha by the arm too running only a few feet from them, and then the three of them landed on the marble tiles of the hall inside the Castle. Alucard motioned with his hand, and the gates slammed shut before even a single night creature could enter.

He ran up the stairs, leaving his friends in the hall behind him. He entered the control-room of the Castle. The tiny prism-shaped device floated in the semi-darkness almost as if it was alive. He reached out with his hand – and heard her laugh.

_“What is that thing?” Mia asked tilting her head._

_He smiled and motioned for her to touch it. Before her fingers reached it though, the prism floated away then turned in the air. She gasped in awe._

_“It is an organic superconductor,” he replied._

_“A what?” she asked taking her hand away._

_“A superconductor creates a field of electricity that excludes magnetic field, thus allowing a magnet to float above it. An organic one does something similar but with organic materials.”_

_“You do know, I’ve lost you right about where you said the ‘A’ at the beginning of your sentence.”_

_He smiled. “It is the controlling device of the engines of the Castle. I already fixed the mechanics, the giant cogwheels you saw lying around in the front yard. Now I need to fix the integrated circuitry that controls it that resides in this superconductor material.”_

_“Can you fix it?”_

_He shrugged. “I have to. If we want to get out alive of this next big adventure of the quartet of us.”_

_She slid her arms around his neck. “You know once this whole is over, you’ll need to teach me all about this.”_

_He smiled and kissed her lips. “I promise I will.” He whispered against her hair._

He watched the floating device in front of him with dread. “I promise…” he whispered again. He reached out and turned the device. The engines kicked in, and the whole Castle started to shake.

He stumbled a step back watching the device rolling around its axis accelerating to an insane speed.

“I promise…” he whispered and turned to find Trevor opposite him. “I promised her and I-I…” His knees buckled, and the last thing he knew was Trevor’s arms around him. He just slumped to the ground and the world went black.

* * *

Something soft was under him as he lay there on his stomach in a darkened room with his hair all over his face. He wasn’t in his coffin, it was rather a bed. He wanted to move, but his arms felt to be held down by shackles made of concrete.

“It’s alright, just rest,” he heard Trevor’s soft voice and then felt his hand on his shoulder.

He sighed. It was strange how safe it felt to have his friend lying right next to him. Even if he knew he was the stronger of the two of them, Trevor was still stronger than most night creatures or humans for that matter. He was able to protect him. He suddenly saw his anxious face opposite him and felt the grasp of his fists on his coat. He did protect him. From his own self even.

He turned to his side and wiped some stray strands away from his face. Then felt Trevor gently tuck the rest of his untidy curls behind his ear. His hand slid from his shoulder down his side, to his abdomen, and Alucard frowned slightly as his friend pulled him against his body. A thought was forming in his head, but his mind was not clear enough for it to emerge. It was just a gut feeling of familiarity.

He turned to his back in his arms, and Trevor leaned above him propping himself on his elbow.

“Tell me what you need,” he said in a soft but firm voice.

Alucard reached out with his hand and touched his cheek. His stubbles crackled under his fingers as he cupped his cheek, his mussed-up hair was soft where his fingers dug into it. He was so real, so alive!

“But I know…” Alucard whispered, his hand dropped to his chest lifeless. “I know... I know you’re not real.” His voice breaking.

Trevor frowned. “How do you know that?”

Alucard sat up gingerly and pointed into the darkness. “Because she’s here.”

And from among the shadows, Mia stepped into the faint light seeping through the drawn curtains. She wore her nun’s robes, and her hair was waist long. The way she looked when he first felt those amazing emotions for her that forged him into wholeness again.

A sob ripped out of him, and he hid his face into his palms. “It’s too soon… It’s too soon, I can’t, please… Please, go.”

The bed rocked gently, and she was sitting opposite him when he looked up again. He took in a ragged breath. He could not touch her. It was mere pain to even think about touching her and knowing… and knowing that he could never do that again, ever.

His head bowed and all he could see was a blur. He thought he’d choke to death there and then from his sobs. He simply couldn’t take a breath. He curled up in a ball, hugging his knees, rocking back and forth and waited for some divine force to finally take him away. Anywhere but this earthly life.

"Please, go, please!" he begged.

“If I go, you need to go to _them_ ,” he heard Mia’s almost strict voice.

He shook his head, not looking up, just rocking manically, fighting for every breath he could squeeze into his lungs between his hysterical sobs.

He felt her hand on his shoulder, in his hair, and his head snapped up. He wanted to beg her to let him go, but he knew her. She’d not do it as long as he didn’t obey.

He slowly let go of his knees and straightened his back. The flow of his tears ebbed, and he was sitting in the dark all alone.

He didn’t quite know how he got his body to obey him and get out of bed, out of the room. But he was slowly shuffling on the corridor, his back had a hunch of old age. Every movement was excruciating pain, though he was sure his wounds already closed under his bloody clothes. He stopped and held on to a windowsill as he gazed outside. He frowned. A snowstorm was raging. He took the Castle and them deep into the Carpathian ridges. Even in his delirium he chose a place where no army could reach them. Or was it blind chance?

He took in the cold air and managed to straighten his back. He felt a measure of sobriety standing in the ice-cold corridor watching the snow. It covered everything with silence and tranquillity. He walked on.

He got to the living room and saw light streaming out. He went closer but stopped when he heard soft crying.

“Stop it, Sypha,” he heard Trevor’s tired, entreating voice. “It’s not gonna bring them back.”

“How can you say that?” she sobbed. “How can you be so nonchalant about what happened? For god’s sake, your sister died today! She had to die because we made a terrible miscalculation, and she took the consequences on her own self.”

“Enough already! I know exactly what she did, and what we did and did not do! No one asked her to be the hero. It was not her place to simply decide for all of us. But she did anyways so I’m not gonna sit here and drown her memory in rum or tears. … Understand, Sypha, please. She made a sacrifice that meant nothing, if we simply sit here and mourn her. It will only have any kind of point if we use the chance, she gave us.”

“How? How are we going to use any kind of chance, Trevor? You are hurt. I’m hurt. We have our baby-boy to take care about. We dragged my people needlessly into our war and they …” her voice broke. “...all of them. How many more should die around us? How many more, tell me!”

“So what is your alternative? Sitting here and crying until Isaac finds a way into the Castle? Or until our buttholes freeze in, because we’re in the fucking middle of the Carpathian Mountains! With no food, no water and barely enough timber to last for a month.”

“Alucard can move the Castle-”

“Alucard. Alucard is a mess. Haven’t you seen him? I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t want to drink us by mistake when he comes to.”

“You’re talking about our friend, Trevor, he’s not a monster!”

“He’s not a monster, but he witnessed the death of his wife, Sypha. It’s enough to send a mere human over the edge, but he’s half vampire. And if that’s not enough, half-Dracula; you saw as well as I did what he did on that battle field today. And _how_ he did those things... There was nothing human in that, Sypha, nothing.” Trevor sighed. “No. We are the ones who need to be sane and sober. Who need to have a plan. Who need to be focused right now, because he won’t be. If he comes to and sees that we’re drowned in grief, he’ll just lose himself in it even more. And we can’t allow that to happen, do you understand?” he asked now on a silent begging voice.

Alucard stood in the corridor and looked to his side. Trevor was standing next to him and smiled.

“They can never know how far I am on the road Trevor fears so much my mind would take,” he whispered to his head-friend. “I need to take care about them before… before I completely lose my mind.”

Head-Trevor nodded. “We’re here when you need us.”

Alucard let out a breath and stepped inside the living room. Trevor let Sypha go, and she wiped her cheek with a trembling hand. Alucard looked over at her Speaker robes. Just like the ones Mia had worn when that red patch started to form on them… her gaze locked to his… her life fading from her eyes…

“Alucard,” Sypha whispered shakily, and he took in a sharp breath suddenly seeing them again.

He looked from her to Trevor. “There is a way,” he heard himself uttering.

They just looked at him perplexed. He went on trying to find the words.

“A way to fight. A way to win this fight. A way to once and for all put an end to this.” His friends looked at one another seemingly not quite knowing how to tell him they were fearing for his sanity.

He took a step, and Trevor met him in the middle of the room. Alucard let out a breath, knowing his friend was not ready to allow him near his wife. “I know that your worst instincts about vampires kicked in when you saw how I was _killing_ today. But I’m not my father.” He shook his head. “I do not know what proof you need to believe it.”

Trevor’s head dropped and his fists clutched. “God, I’m so mad at you,” he growled between gritted teeth. “She died because of you. _Instead_ of you!

“I know. I hate myself for it more than you ever could, Trevor.”

“I could kill you now, Alucard. I could kill you!”

“I’ll let you,” Alucard whispered and met Trevor’s distressed eyes. “But not just now. Now, we have work to do. And I need Sypha’s powers for that.”

Trevor swallowed his tears then slowly nodded. Sypha stepped to them and slid her hand into Trevor’s. “What is your plan, Alucard?”

“We’ll let my father clean up his own mess.”

His friends gaped at him.

“We’ll revive Dracula.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I have to admit that I feel a subtle panic steadily rising in my gut as my cursor is nearing the "Post" button, because I kinda feel some of you will simply abandon my story right about now. But believe me, we are not yet finished, so please, please, just bear with me. <3
> 
> A very important author's note here (though I'm completely sure none of you were asking for it) is the fact that there is no such thing as an organic superconductor. There are superconductors of course, the super-fast Shinkanzen train in Japan makes use of them but no organic counterpart exist. However, I was thinking if the LED (made out of non-organic materials) got an organic counterpart with the advance of science (that's the OLED in your phone's screen), why couldn't there be later on organic superconductors? Feels sci-fi-ish, but as the traveling mechanism of the Castle belongs rather to the "true science" domain of the Castlevania-world and not to the "magic" domain, I had to come up with at least a pseudo-scientific technobabble. (You can feel I'm coming from an engineering / sci-fi writing background. :P) Anyhow, there's that.
> 
> A second point is that this chapter is pure experimenting. I allowed Alucard's thoughts, memories and imaginations blur together throughout which might be disorienting, but I think he feels now pretty disoriented himself too, so the depiction reflects the content so to say. Don't know if it worked or just became super-confusing though. Let me know, though I'm dreading any comments that might come for this chapter. 
> 
> I won't promise anything, but I will try to speed up with the next one. Stay tuned, don't give up and thank you for reading it! <3


	17. Chapter 17

Alucard watched the fire dancing cheerfully in the living room fireplace. He was still wrapped in the blanket Sypha had put over his shoulders before they went to bed with Trevor. It was freezing cold in the Castle, the heating system couldn’t withstand the Carpathian winter. He leaned forward watching the flames. He was trying to feel something. Anything. But there was only emptiness. And the cold.

They had had a long talk with his two friends about the ritual that needed to be completed in order for the summoning spell to work. Sypha went through some ancient tombs of magic his father kept lying around and completed the spell that had been partially translated from Arabic by Mia. It was almost dawning by the time she was finished, and they decided that they’d have a few hours of sleep before they made an attempt at accomplishing his insane idea.

He had all the reason to feel some sort of an emotion. He was about to see his father again. His father, whom he had killed with his own hands. And there was his best friend blaming him for ... for the death of Mia. Yes, there was Mia above all. She was gone. She was dead.

“She’s dead,” he whispered.

Saying the words aloud didn’t make it any more real. He remembered when his mother died, he was in a similar state. He cried at first, but then this haze descended over his soul, over his whole being. He was looking at everything through water. Just like now. Head-Trevor and head-Sypha sitting at his side didn’t help much with his grasp on lucidity. He knew they were not his real friends only by the fact that he remembered saying good night to them a few hours prior.

They were not talking now. It was strange because they didn’t stop teasing him before… well, before he met their real versions again. Why were they silent?

The door opened behind him, but he kept his gaze on the fire.

“It’s so fucking cold that I can cut glass with my nipples,” he heard Trevor and shortly after, the clinking of bottles.

Before long, he blocked the sight of the fire, and Alucard raised his gaze to meet his.

“Can’t sleep either?” Trevor asked and put a bottle on the low table in front of him.

Alucard remained silent, unmoving.

Trevor adjusted his fur coat around his shoulders. “Frozen hell, that’s what this Castle is now. No fire and no walls can keep this kind of winter out. It’s a nightmare. A frozen one at that.”

He was blabbering too much. Way too much compared to his normal self, and even his head-self. Which was even more unusual than the fact that his head-self was _still_ present.

Trevor took a few aimless paces then sat next to Alucard.

Alucard took the bottle on the table and stroked the label with a thumb.

“You know you just sat in Sypha’s lap.”

“What?” Trevor barked jumping up.

Alucard looked at him. “Don’t be spooked. She won’t break. In fact, she can't break. You can sit back, it's a slightly funny image.”

Trevor blinked at him as if he had two heads. “Have you lost your wits, man?”

“Apparently,” Alucard replied leaning back.

Trevor frowned and sat opposite him on the table, but stopped short before his butt reached the surface. “I’m not sitting on anybody here, right?”

Alucard shrugged.

Trevor sat and put his cold palm on his forehead. “You don’t have fever.”

“I don’t think vampires ever do.”

Trevor let out a long breath. “We really had a mess of a day yesterday, didn’t we?” He clinked his bottle to the one that Alucard was nursing between his palms. “Drink, it’ll get better. Or you’ll get number, whichever comes first.”

Alucard raised his brows in mild surprise. “I don’t need the latter. And I don’t _want_ the former.”

Trevor leaned back glancing away frustrated. “Alright, fine. I feel like shit for telling you what I did, alright? Better? I shouldn’t have blamed you for what happened to Mia. We have enough burdens already, no point in putting any on each other. So I was an ass, alright?”

“But it’s the truth. It was my fault.”

“It was not,” Trevor told him pointedly. “Listen, I was a complete mess yesterday, not just you. I was talking out of my ass because I just needed to blame someone. Truth is, Mia chose for all of us. And from her point of view, it was the most logical choice.”

Alucard frowned, his fingers coiled around the neck of the bottle.

Trevor turned up his palm. “Look. What would have happened if the two of us fought as Isaac wanted? One of us would have died. You die, Isaac kills everyone. I die, Isaac keeps on blackmailing you into anything he wants with Mia. Plus he kills Sypha and little-Leon. I’m very sure she calculated all the odds and …” he sighed. “And you know her. She would lay down her life for the people she loves. And she did.”

Alucard shook his head staring into mid-distance. “She didn’t have to die. She didn't.”

“No. Maybe not. But she did.” Trevor caught his gaze. “It was her call. Not ours. Not yours. So if you want to be angry at someone, crazy as it sounds, we can only be angry at her. If was here …” he scoffed and cleared his throat, “trust me, she’d sure as hell get a piece of my mind.” He turned away, and his hands curled in fists.

Alucard leaned back and the fire beyond Trevor’s hunched figure caught his gaze again. True. If Mia was here, he’d be screaming at her for doing what she’d done. While she was still recovering from her terrible wound a few months ago, and one morning he woke to find she just simply left to go outside, he was pissed as all hell. He was beside himself with worry, and he couldn’t just say it. He couldn’t say how scared she’d made him. How scared he was of losing her, of never seeing her again, of not being ready to let her go for whatever reason. He just reprimanded her – and she understood anyway. She understood him.

The bottle broke on the floor, and he buried his face in his palm, his hair blocked his blurry vision almost completely. A sob was gripping his body, and he wanted to take a short breath to break it, but he was paralyzed. His hair clang to his cheeks, he shook his head fighting to squeeze some air into his lungs but only a grunt escaped his lips and his body started to shake. What was happening? He couldn’t breathe!

And then strong hands grasped his shoulders and shook him. His vision cleared enough for him to understand it was Trevor. Maybe he was trying to talk to him, but he just couldn’t hear a word through the throbbing blood in his ears. His head bowed and his misery allowed his tortured lungs only a short moment of relief when he could take a ragged breath just to be absorbed by his all-consuming sobs again.

Trevor shook him again and made him look into his eyes.

“Stop this, you hear me?”

He did hear it faintly.

“Stop it before you pass out on me, listen.” Trevor grasped his hair over the nape of his neck and turned his head up to him. The grip was both gentle and firm, almost like one would handle a puppy needing a distraction from some naughtiness he was so completely caught up in. “Are you listening? You need to breathe!”

Alucard stared at him dizzy, gasping for breath through his mouth. He nodded weakly, or at least, he thought he did, but he was not quite sure he was still in control of his body at all.

“That’s it, just breathe. Breathe. In and out. In and out. Yes, that’s right, there’s a good vampire.”

Oddly enough, Alucard felt his racing heart slow down as he focused on Trevor’s voice – in and out, in and out, he dictated the rhythm, and grudgingly he was able to breathe again. The storm passed. He swallowed and sighed. Trevor let his hair go, and Alucard eased his body back into the couch exhausted. He dropped his gaze to the side and frowned jaded. His head-friends were gone. But real Trevor was still sitting opposite him with what seemed to be a worried look - one he tried hard to conceal.

“What happened?” Alucard heard himself whispering. What _did_ happen?

Trevor sighed adjusting his coat over his shoulders. “I, er…” He shook his head gazing away. “I don’t quite know. When I was… when my family died and I buried their remains, I … it was happening to me too. Sometimes. On occasion.” He shrugged and glanced at him. “It’s freaky, you feel you’ll die the next second. But you have to keep breathing, and it goes away.”

Alucard nodded and wiped the wet hair out of his face. He frowned. It was wet from his tears obviously, but he didn’t quite remember crying. There was only the sudden fear of choking to death without a reason. He bowed his head. It _was_ freaky.

He felt Trevor’s hand on his shoulder, and he looked up. Trevor’s gaze was determined, but his eyes glistened with unshed tears. “We’ll catch those two mother-fuckers and make them pay for this. They’ll be praying for death before I finish with them, Alucard, and then I’ll make them suffer more.”

“That won’t bring her back,” Alucard said feeling his eyes fill again.

“It won’t. But at least it will make me stop wanting to punch my fist through the wall and scream from the top of my lungs.”

Alucard watched his friend for a moment longer then nodded.

Trevor nodded too and let him go. “Let’s catch a wink before all hell breaks loose.” He stood.

“And by all hell you mean my father,” Alucard mumbled wooden.

A chuckle escaped Trevor’s lips as he walked to the door and turned back. “By hell, I meant Sypha when little-Leon decides to wake her because he’s hungry.”

Alucard felt the edge of his lips twitch to which Trevor gave him a small smile and then left. He collapsed on the couch and fainted into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

Sypha finished drawing the intricate pattern on the floor of the hall where they had rolled up the carpet. It was a pentagram entwined with floral patterns and magical runes of the spell. She stood up and dusted off her palms.

“And Dracula is supposed to jump out of hell in the middle of this,” Trevor asked, eyeing the symbols skeptically

She put her fists on her sides. “You don’t trust me, Belmont?”

“Far be it from me to state something as bold as that. I’m just saying the idea is from a madman, the symbols are from a book none of us can read, and the spell was translated by … Mia, who did not fully speak Arabic. I mean what if something was lost in translation and instead of Dracula, we end up summoning Zeus?”

“Then we’ll kindly ask him to summon the rest of the gods of the Olympus to help us beat the heck out of Isaac,” Sypha replied unamused.

“Always the optimistic,” Trevor grimaced. “This really can go totally wrong, you both realize that. A year ago, we almost got killed by the very creature we are now trying to bring back to life. I know last night I said we cannot sit on our hands waiting for Isaac, and I know we’re outnumbered and outgunned but how about a little more foreplay before we put our necks in the noose?”

“The spell doesn’t only summon Dracula,” Sypha said as if she was trying to explain it to a child. “It also binds his powers to me. He won’t be able to harm anyone if I don’t allow him. He’ll be an obedient little puppy-dog at my heel.”

Trevor nodded grimly. “Yes, I think _this_ will go down in the history of famous last words along with ‘threw me that axe, will you?’ Dracula as your puppy-dog. Because whatever could go wrong there, right?”

“He’ll not hurt us,” Alucard said silently staring only at the pentagram. “His head is clear now. He knows my mother awaits him down there. He knows he needs to be without her only for a brief time.”

Trevor and Sypha exchanged glances. “Are you sure you want to do this, Alucard?” Sypha asked softly.

He turned his head to them almost as if he was in a waking-dream. He let out a short breath. “No. But we ran out of options. And we’re running out of time, and … I’m growing really weary of this whole … existence so just let’s finish this,” he whispered and then frowned to himself. Did he just say that? He didn’t want to whine, but the pathetic words just came up like projectile vomiting...

Sypha bowed her head, and Trevor crossed his arms.

“Hmm, about that,” he mumbled. “I hope we’re clear on the fact that no one’s gonna help you be rid of your ‘weary existence’ here. Just saying, before you get any ideas based on my profession.”

Alucard turned his head away hit by that. He suddenly felt terrible about making them think that. About even letting on the impression that he’d be as selfish as his father had been, using whoever was closest to him for suicide.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I did not mean it that way. I just meant … when we are finished, I want to return to my vault under Gresit and sleep. Sleep until I’m needed again. If ever I’m needed again.”

His two friends exchanged distressed glances at this. Then it seemed they came to the same conclusion at the same time because Sypha let out a long breath trying to swallow her tears, and Trevor nodded grimly.

“When this is over. We’ll get on a covered wagon, and escort you back to Gresit.”

Alucard felt an odd relief over knowing they understood his wish, and over the thought of finishing their journey where it had started. He turned back to the pentagram.

“Let us do this!” he said and stood in the middle. He then wounded his palm with his claws and let the blood drip on the pentagram right in the middle of it.

Sypha nodded to him, and he left the occult symbol to stand a few steps away from where she was standing. She took out a small piece of paper, started to chant on a foreign tongue – her words reverberated around them in the great hall – the paper floated to the middle of the pentagram and in a split second was consumed in giant blue flames.

Trevor frowned visibly unsure if the flames could touch them but stayed put and watched.

Alucard expected a portal to open, but there was nothing but the blue flames ever growing, and finally almost reaching the ceiling of the hall. Sypha chanted the spell again and again as purple lightning twisted around the whirlpool of flames. For minutes, there was nothing but the swirl of magic in the center of the pentagram, and slowly, a chill crawled up Alucard’s spine: what if Isaac got his blood from the grass of the battlefield and completed the ritual already? What if they were late and Dracula was already happily living amongst his minions?

The moment the thought crossed his mind, a tower of red flames shot up from the middle of the pentagram, and the three of them recoiled in fright.

“This was a moronic idea to do indoors,” Trevor muttered, but the flames didn’t set fire to the hanging drapes they were licking.

They slowly died down and formed a silhouette. The unmistakable silhouette of a tall man wrapped tightly in a long cape. Alucard watched it turn to Sypha and speak on his father’s deep echoing voice.

“What do you wish Speaker magician? Why did you disturb my spirit?”

Sypha stared at it wide-eyed for a moment longer then frowned annoyed. She stepped opposite the flames.

“First of all, stop this cheesy showcasing of your magic tricks – you think, I can’t wrap myself in flames and look like a mythical phoenix if I want to? Show yourself, and look your master in the eye, Dracula!”

The flames went out with a sudden puff, and in their place, there stood Dracula. Larger than life, as if he was never dead for a singular minute.

“It fucking worked,” Trevor breathed, his eyes glued to their lethal enemy.

“Eloquently put observation, Belmont,” Dracula remarked and turned back to Sypha. “What is it that you want of me Speaker?”

Alucard suddenly had the impression that his father willfully ignored his presence. “Do you not know?” he asked stepping opposite him.

Dracula looked only at Sypha. “She summoned me.” He held out his wrists, and they saw two thin shackles of blue flames twirl around them. “She bound my powers.” He pointed to Sypha with his long bony index finger ending in a deadly claw. “It is her place to state why she did those things.”

Trevor collected his jaw from the floor and stood between Sypha and Alucard. He put his arms around their shoulders leaning close to them and muttered under his nose. “Correct me if I’m wrong, guys, but we never actually figured what we’d ask the genie once it’s out the bottle.”

Dracula snorted and took a few paces chuckling softly. They watched him still wary, and Alucard could feel all of them tense up when his father stopped short and looked at them with his piercing gaze.

“A well-thought-through plan yet again,” Dracula said. “Same as before when your goal was to kill me. You had no idea what to do next, so now what used to be my army grew so powerful that you need help to do away with it. And what do you come up with as a solution for that predicament? You summon me from the dead! But you are just as clueless about what to do next as you had been a year ago. Bravo!” He clapped and finally turned to Alucard. “I understand that your friends are obtuse, they are mere humans after all, but I taught you better than this.”

Sypha cut him off losing her patience. “Can you kill the army of the forge-masters?”

Dracula chuckled heartily, the sound echoed in the hall filling Alucard with nostalgia. Last time he heard his father’s laughter was when his mother was still alive. He shook his head to get rid of the uncanny feeling.

Dracula theatrically spread his arms. “But of course, Speaker. I just wave my magic wand and while I pull bunnies out of top hats, I’ll do away with all the bad things in the world too.”

Sypha grimaced, and Trevor rolled his eyes.

“I’m sorry, were you expecting God when you summoned me?” Dracula asked her in mock-confusion.

“We needed a strong ally,” Sypha said.

“You’ve got yourselves one. Anything more specific than that?”

“Next time we face the army, we’ll need to get through them to the two forge-masters. Even the three of us are not strong enough for that, we got a very bitter lesson in that yesterday.”

“And you expect me to turn the tables.”

“You can teach us magic. You can fight alongside us, so yes, you will turn the tables for us,” Sypha said firmly and took a step closer to him. “You will help us clean the mess up that you made, and then you’ll go back to where you belong.”

“Oh? Will I? And tell me, Speaker, will that be the punishment or the reward for my endeavors?”

Sypha and Trevor exchanged glances as he went on.

“You know I had no intention of coming back. You looked right into hell when you opened the portal in Lindenfeld. Did I seem eager to run through it? Your threats are empty, even preposterous. And the only one who should be afraid of my going back to hell is your dear friend standing right there next to you.”

Sypha and Trevor looked at Alucard taken aback, and he could tell they did not think so far ahead as just _who’d_ send Dracula back to hell when the time came.

Trevor stood in front of him, his hands in fists. “Don’t worry about going back, Dracula, there are plenty of volunteers who’ll assist you on your way to the other side after our business is done. Alucard doesn’t need to lay a finger on you, we’ll do it with Sypha. With pleasure.”

“You do not understand, Trevor,” Alucard said silently, and all eyes were on him. “ _I_ have to do it. _I_ am Alucard of Wallachia. This is _my_ fate. This is why I was born for.”

“I don’t believe in fate!” Trevor said firmly. “I believe in duty. And my duty to you as my friend is to take this burden off your shoulders.”

Alucard shook his head. “I’m grateful, Trevor, but no need. I was fighting against this fate for a long time. But the more I fight the more victims it will take. I will always be his equal and opposite. And I will always be needed as a guardian for the human race. As long as spells that can summon him from the dead exist. As long as people who want to summon him exist. It will always be my fate to stand up against him and be the light where he’s the darkness.”

A pregnant silence descended over them. He turned from the tormented gazes of his friends to his father. He saw solemn appreciation in his eyes.

“Mia wouldn’t want you to say such things,” Sypha said on the brink of tears.

Alucard touched her arm gently. “But Mia is no more, Sypha. And Adrian. Adrian died with her. Only Alucard remained.” He looked at his father again. "Teach her magic, father. Teach her, and let's put an end to this once again," he said then turned away and walked off into the gloom of the hall.

* * *

The snowstorm died down outside, and the chilling air cleared Alucard’s head as he stepped outside. The Carpathian Mountains enveloped them towering above the Castle. The white ridges stood proudly against the darkness the magical structure held within. He sat down on the stairs, and there sat Mia next to him. Last night, seeing her was excruciating pain. Now, the pain was like coming home. He pulled his legs to his chest and rested his forearms on his knees. He just watched her watching him. She said nothing. Just sat there with a tiny smile. A smile that said it all.

But then the image changed, and he saw her in Hector’s arms and saw the blood and saw her gasping for her last breath – and saw her eyes. Full of love, full of despair. She didn’t want to die. But slowly, she let her wish to live go. Only to save him. He shook his head and buried his face in his arms.

His agony wore out in a few minutes, and he crouched there completely drained in the cold. He then felt a presence above him, and he raised his head to see his father sitting next to him.

Dracula just stared at the mountains, and Alucard put his chin on his forearms looking ahead. The cold wind dried his cheeks, and his long strands billowed over his back in the chilly breeze. He hated how having his father with him felt comforting in that moment, and his nostalgia returned. They did that sometimes when he was older and grew out of playing with toys or being read stories. They drifted apart in his teens, neither of them could find a way to the other. Only through his mother. But when they were alone, without her, sitting in silence together, those were the only moments they functioned as father and son.

“They are not long living creatures like we are, Alucard,” his father said silently. “If you choose a human woman as your love, you need to keep that in mind.”

Alucard straightened his back. His heart started to race hearing that. “Tell me, would that have helped you if I said that after mother died? Would you have felt better?” he asked out of breath.

Dracula scoffed and looked at him. “You could have said nothing that would have helped.”

Alucard just watched him confused as he went on, almost as if he didn’t quite notice his presence.

“When your mother and I got married, I was painfully aware of the limitations of her existence. Every time she got hurt one way or the other, even if she got a papercut, I was reminded that one day I’d be … a widow. And I kept telling myself, with enough time, she’d come around, and say that I could do it. I could turn her. She just needed a little more time in the sun. Twenty years passed like twenty seconds. I barely noticed them going by.” He looked at Alucard. “When I arrived at her burning cottage in Lupu village, I was not ready. I was not ready at all.”

“And you think I was more ready? Why didn’t you turn her? Why – why didn’t I turn Mia? She was begging me. She wanted to stay with me, forever. And I … I sacrificed her for some idealistic dream about her needing the sun, needing to live. And she died because of that.”

“I felt the same guilt you’re feeling now,” Dracula said in a low voice. “Until I met Lisa again. And she told me she wouldn’t have wanted it in any other way. She was furious about what I did in her name. She didn’t talk to me for … well, I can’t quite tell how long, time passes differently down there. But when she did start to talk to me, the first thing she told me, she hadn’t wanted eternal life. Despite her terribly painful death, she wouldn’t have wanted it in any other way. She accepted her fate. She was simply sorry for all the pain my war in her name caused.”

Alucard listened stunned. “She forgave you?”

Dracula nodded holding his gaze. “Yes. She forgave me because she knew I did it all for love. She knew human cruelty was the real cause of everything that happened. And don’t be mistaken. Isaac’s actions are motivated by the exact same thing. No one turned to him with love in his life. Or with respect or friendship. Only me.”

“You can’t cure cruelty with cruelty. It’s a devil that feeds on itself,” Alucard said silently remembering Mia’s words.

“It really is,” Dracula nodded. “But no one is forcing humans to be cruel and violent. It really is not the fault of vampires if humans are not prepared to get a taste of their own bitter soup.”

Alucard sighed. “True, some humans have an innate need to destroy. But we should know better and teach them better. You, living life-times, should have known better. But you didn’t. Despite spending twenty years with my mother, you didn’t. Your only response to violence was violence.”

“Vampires _are_ teaching humans better: we’re teaching them that no matter how strong you think you are, there’ll always be someone stronger than you.” Dracula let out a short breath and shrugged. “Perhaps you’ll be wiser than I am one day. But I don’t believe that humans and vampires are in any way equals. Some of them are extraordinary like your mother or your wife. But the rest … they are no better than the cattle they slaughter for food.”

“And so you slaughter them like cattle.” Alucard shook his head and stood to go.

Dracula stood too. “You’re expecting something of me that I can never give, Alucard.” He walked up the stairs to stand opposite him. “You’re expecting me to become someone I can never be. Your mother accepted me as I was. But you cannot, can you.”

“You really think that? You really think mother accepted your bloodthirst and barbaric savagery? She simply held out hope for you that with time, you’d change. She did not accept you. She was _turning_ you.”

Dracula watched him with an unreadable expression. Then nodded. “You were right before. We’ll always be enemies.”

Alucard stood his soul-piercing gaze.

Dracula scoffed and his features softened. “For what it’s worth, it’s comforting to know I will walk eternity with you by my side, even if that side is the opposite one, son.”

Alucard gasped. He couldn’t decide if his father was just sentimental in his own way or wanted to simply hurt him where it most hurt. He bowed his head, his eyes stung. “Is that why you had me? Is that why you took mother as your bride so that a human can give you a son who’ll never die and never leave you?”

Dracula gave him a thoughtful smile. “No, never think that. We had you because we loved each other. You were the gift we – _I_ never deserved.”

Alucard snorted. “That’s the most pathetic way a father can tell his son he loves him.” He wiped his cheek. “I hope you don’t accept a similar confession in return.” He was about to go through the gates, but his father’s expression stopped him.

Dracula stared at his hand with a raised brow. “Is that _my_ ring?”

Alucard felt heat rising to his cheeks, and he turned his hand around. “This? Er…” He looked at his father suddenly abashed. He felt like when he was five and his daddy found him stealing cookies from the pantry. “You-you want to have it back?”

Dracula smiled surprised. “For these few days?”

Alucard bowed his head. Right...

“When did you get married?” his father asked.

He sighed and looked out on the mountain ridges. “Only yesterday,” he whispered. “You ... you'd have liked her, she was ... remarkable. And amazing. ...And she doesn’t even have a grave. Just like mother. I can’t even pay my respects.” He hugged himself trying to keep the tears in.

“You don’t know what had become of her body?”

Alucard shook his head. “Isaac took her, I-I … oh, god…” he trailed off as a terrible thought was forming in his head, and he looked at his father with dread in his eyes. “Will he use her to summon a demon in her body too?!”

His father looked at him unsure and with what Alucard thought to be a measure of guilt. He felt his heart racing. What if they turned Mia into a night-creature?! He couldn’t bear that thought of meeting her again as a _demon_. He couldn’t bear the thought of having to kill her!

He ran inside as if the devil was five steps behind him and felt his father’s presence on his heel. He got to the study gasping and drew the runes with shaking hands. Before he could finish, his father took him by the wrist.

He looked at Dracula with blazing eyes. “Let me go or I swear to god-”

“No. Not until you promise me whatever you’re about to see, you’ll not go through the mirror.”

“What?”

“You’ll not go through the mirror until we’re prepared. Promise me! Say the words, Alucard.”

Alucard looked at him taken aback then nodded. “I promise, just don’t touch me again!” He tore his wrist out of Dracula’s fist and drew the runes with a shaking hand.

* * *

There was a warm darkness swirling all around her. Her body floated suspended in time and space. Somehow, she knew she was not alive, but she also knew she was not quite dead either. She had no idea what told her that, she just knew. Something inside of her grew like ivy crawling up the branches of a giant oak tree: slowly but relentlessly, starting from her belly through her veins, her muscles, and bones and skin. All over her body until it reached her heart and made it move. Then the sensation of air streaming into her lungs, her breath felt hot on her ice-cold lips. Her fingers moved, a smooth surface was under her. A table? It was cold and smooth like marble. Cold. _Everything_ was cold.

Then voices. First, they seemed far, but they grew louder without moving toward her, and finally, she could make sense of the words.

“Please, Isaac! I swear it was not me!” she heard. The man sounded desperate. Crying even.

“It is not relevant anymore, Hector, who did what,” the other man had a strange accent and a dangerously calm tone. The other was sobbing – and there was the cracking of a whip followed by a moan. Sounds she knew intimately well. Her eyes snapped open.

Hector was kneeling in front of Isaac, his shoulders and back bare, his hands clutched in front of his chest. “I did nothing, I swear. It was her!”

“It is not a punishment, Hector, don’t consider it that,” Isaac said almost lovingly. “It is the help you need to learn discipline. Control. Obedience. I’m not torturing you. You’ve been tortured enough already by others. I’m helping you.” He held the whip up. “ _This_ is the best way I can find to give you the guidance you need. The love you need. Now, turn around.”

Hector turned his back sobbing, and Mia could tell by the whipmarks on his back that this was not the first time he had received Isaac’s ‘love’. She sat up abruptly.

“Stop!”

The two forge-masters cried out in unison and recoiled in horror. Hector melted into a corner while Isaac pulled his dagger out and stood there ready to fight.

She put her feet to the ground and stood. She looked around disoriented. Where was she? It seemed to be a tent of some kind, but it was so dark. Behind her, what she thought to be a table was in fact a slab, covered in dried gore. Was it hers?! There was the warm and sweet smell of death lingering in the air, and in the haze, dozens of eyes glinted against the darkness, all glued to her! She looked at the two men and took a step to them.

“What am I doing here?” she whispered.

“How… how is this possible?” Hector stammered staring up at Isaac.

Isaac eyed Mia with shock, but he lowered his blade.

She frowned and looked down at herself. She wore the robes of Speakers, and there was an enormous patch of dried blood on the front. She swallowed suddenly dizzy. She remembered now. There was a battle. Isaac blackmailed Adrian with her. And she chose… She touched the front of her robe where the wound should have been. It didn’t hurt. It didn’t hurt even a bit.

“What did you do to me?” 

The two forge-masters remained mute as she went on examining her clothes and body. There was nothing out of place about her. But something was definitely out of place because she recovered from a wound that should have killed her!

“What did you do to me?!” she demanded stepping up to the two men. Her hands clenched in fists.

“Nothing!” Hector said. He was still crouching on the ground, shaking like a leaf.

She looked at Isaac who seemed to have calmed his nerves. “We did nothing to you.”

“You can make creatures rise from the dead, and I did exactly that, I rose from the dead, now, stop lying to me and answer my question.”

“Forging doesn’t mean you’d get your life back. Your body would be occupied by a soul from hell. By a demon. But … you’re a _human_.”

“It’s magic,” Hector whispered. “It’s surely Speaker magic.”

Mia looked at him pondering – she was sure Sypha had cast no spell over her when she’d left with the other Speakers. She then frowned when she saw a drop of blood slide down Hector’s shoulder. He must have been in excruciating pain. She _knew_ he was. She stepped to him, but he hid his face in his arms. His back smeared blood on the rough material of the tent where he was pressing against it.

“Please…” he whispered holding his hands up. “Please!”

She squatted down to him. “Don’t be frightened.” She reached out with her hand and gently touched his bare arm. He whimpered still terrified. She loosened the front of her outer robe and tore a piece off the edge. She then squatted closer to Hector who peered at her from behind his hands covering his face and head. She gently turned him and wiped the blood off his back. He stared at her stunned and slowly lowered his hands.

Isaac stood above them. “Leave him alone, my lady.” His voice was cold. He was obviously over his shock.

Mia glared up at him. “He’s hurt. His wounds need to be treated.”

“I said, leave him alone!” Isaac snapped, and Mia recoiled as black lightning snaked up Hector’s body starting from the black ring on his finger. He screamed, and she stood and stepped back scared.

The lightnings stopped, and Hector collapsed in the corner sobbing without a sound. Mia watched him feeling her throat close. She swirled to Isaac.

“How can you do that to your friend?! What kind of a monster are you?”

“All actions have equal and opposite reactions, my lady. Dracula offered his friendship and his respect to Hector. And in exchange, Hector sided with traitors. He merely gets what he deserves. A lesson in loyalty and obedience. It’s no more than I give myself to discipline my body.”

“You really are a madman. A fanatic.”

“I am but a slave, my lady. A slave who offers all that he has to offer to the sole person who was good to him. Isn’t that what you yourself did mere hours ago? On the battlefield where you – to all intents and purposes – died for the only man who ever considered you more than the simple slave you are.”

She searched his dark eyes, a terrible feeling forming in the depth of her guts. “This is not right,” she whispered. “We never met. You can’t know me. You can’t know me _this_ well!”

“I know much, my lady. I know you are related to the hunter, Alucard teamed up with, and know the Belmont Hold better than most. I know you used to be a nun. I know you found love with a man you never should have. With the son of Dracula.”

“Who the devil are you?!”

He gave her a small smile. “I am the man who made your love possible, my lady.”

“What … what does that mean?”

“I was the one blackmailing the mother-superior of your order into sending you to Alucard. I was the one who asked the questions when you were tortured in Opatija, to see if my schemes yielded the much coveted results. I was the one who controlled each and every step you took until you finally ended up in his bed.”

“But why? Why would you go into such lengths to make your lethal enemy find love?!”

“Because I needed leverage to make him side with us. And if that is not possible, to have _another_ entity carrying Dracula’s blood. One that is much more accessible than Alucard’s blood ever could be. And judging by your body’s ability to regenerate, it seems I have fully succeeded!” he told her and with unimaginable gentleness, put his palm above her womb.

She followed the movement of his hand wide-eyed and shook her head in disbelief.

“Oh, god…”

* * *

Alucard watched the scene through the mirror with a bewildered gape. The next thing he knew, he was struggling against his father, shouting and fighting like mad to go through the mirror.

“You cannot cross, Alucard! Think already, there are dozens of night-creatures in that tent, who’d not think twice about ripping her throat out if Isaac as much as flicked a finger for them to do so!”

“No, you need to let me go! She’s alive. She’s alive and I left her there, I-”

Before he could finish, the world went black for a moment, and the next thing he knew was him sitting unceremoniously on his butt with a hurting jaw and Trevor holding a knife to his father’s throat while Sypha was standing in the doorway with a ball of fire on her palm.

Trevor grabbed Dracula by the collar. “You son-of-a-bitch, we turn our backs for a moment, and you’re trying-”

“I’m trying to protect him, Belmont! With the Speaker’s binding spell, what else could I be doing?”

“Protect him, ha! Don’t try to make me laugh because my hand might tremble a little with this knife over your throat, Dracula!”

“No, Trevor, stop!” Sypha shouted.

Trevor looked at her distracted, and his eyes met Alucard’s. He gingerly stood.

“Leave him alone, Trevor…” he whispered shakily then turned his head to the mirror.

Mia was standing there in the middle of the dark tent watching the two forge-masters leave. They left her there with that pack of night-creatures as company, and about a dozen corpses in a pile beside the slab. She looked around terrified and heart-wrenchingly alone – the light of the fireplace glistened on the surface of the mirror.

Trevor let Dracula go with a nudge and stared at Mia wide-eyed. “How…” He turned to Sypha who looked back at him just as shocked. “Did you do – or did the forge-masters?!”

“No,” Dracula replied straightening his clothes.

“But then how is she…? Is this a trick?!” Trevor asked turning back to him clenching his knife.

“No. Not _my_ trick, at least. Rather Alucard’s,” Dracula said with a dry chuckle in his voice.

Trevor and Sypha was looking from him to Mia and to Alucard still completely lost.

Alucard swallowed staring only at his wife still as if seeing only a mirage.

“Mia’s pregnant with my child,” he whispered. “And the baby healed her mortal wound.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading! <3
> 
> We have Mia back, phew... I'm happy about her also because now, through the mirror, I get to write from her POV a little bit. (I'm not gonna head-hop, I promise - or at least, I'm "crampingly" trying not to.)
> 
> Do you guys, know the age old RPG game, Heroes of Might and Magic III? It was immensely popular when I was in high school - yeah, not in the all-girls-school I was going to because there the main interest for normal people was boys (i.e. not me who was playing with games lol). Anyhow, in that game, there is a "faction" called Tower, which is basically a huge castle with a lot of towers among snowy mountains. And there's this beautiful music playing when you enter this castle that reminds you of the snowy breeze. So this was what was going on in my head when I was writing about the Castle in the Carpathians. 
> 
> And Dracula is back. Did I mention I really love this ... creep? He is a great tragic character, and his voice is amazing. Graham McTavish also played a priest/demon in Lucifer, another dark and twisty show - maybe he likes this theme, I don't know but it totally suites him :) Anyhow, I just couldn't NOT have Dracula in my fic. What kind of a Castlevania fic would that have been? :) Like Dallas without JR - and now you think I'm in my fifties or something lol
> 
> Feedback is always welcome! Stay safe, all of you! <3


	18. Chapter 18

Alucard hurried his steps as he got nearer to the nursery, and the voices of his friends became clearer. He rolled his eyes. Sypha and Trevor were having a fight, again. Every god damn occasion the child was crying, they picked a fight. He let out a loud breath. He had to admit he was at his ropes end…

Indeed little-Leon was a fussy child and really challenged the nerves of his parents who (after three weeks of barely getting a wink of sleep) were at the end of their own ropes as much as he was. But to add insult to injury, they took it out on each other. Or in case of Trevor, he took it out on everything and everybody around him. And it was incredibly infuriating! Didn’t they have enough on their hands already? No, the fact that Mia was held captive by the forge-masters or that his father was looking over their shoulders while they were researching spells was not enough stress. They needed to _create_ stress!

Alucard turned the corner and spotted them in front of the nursery door – while the child was still crying inside. He sighed and tried to retain the clarity of his human mind – the vampire half was already picturing how ripping the throat out of both of their necks would feel… He swallowed a hiss. _Humans are friends, not food…_

“…am I, ha? Am I?!” Sypha yelled at her husband. “Because sneaking into the wine cellar every chance you got is good parenting?”

“Excuse me that I nodded off for a moment, and your highness had to raise her butt to check on her son.”

Sypha crossed her arms. “Nodded off, of course.”

“I’m taking care of him while you go about your magical business! What more do you want?”

“Well, I don’t know. Something like taking your head out of your ass and feed him when he’s hungry instead of shouting at me!”

Trevor raised his brows. “Feed him, eh? Wouldn’t that be your job in the first place?”

Sypha stared at him shaken.

Alucard frowned. True, Sypha had to give up breast feeding about two weeks ago. It bothered her beyond reason, but there was nothing she could do about a matter that mother nature had decided about. Why did Trevor stab her where it most hurt her?

“How can you say that to me?” she whispered shakily. “How can you-”

“I didn’t say anything hurtful, stop making me out to be the monstrous father here! I can stand on my head and sing a lullaby, but that will not make me his mother. And that’s a fact.”

“Haven’t you noticed I have a job to do?”

Trevor rolled his eyes. “Oh, haven’t I noticed. Of course. The book club with Dracula! How could taking care of Leon ever compete with that?”

“For your information, we aren’t exactly playing rummy in the library. How can you hold researching for the coming battle against me?”

“I’m not holding anything against you, for fuck’s sake, don’t you see? But when we agreed to bring the vampire back, we never said we’d socialize with him for weeks. How can that be in any way fine? How can it be fine to leave Mia there for weeks? How can it be fine that I’m tending to our son twenty-four seven all alone?”

“All I’m asking is a little help! Is that such a big deal?”

“Big deal? I’m a vampire hunter, Sypha, and not a wet nurse!”

She took a short breath to retort, but Alucard stepped between them.

“That’d be quite enough, both of you.”

“Stay out of it Alucard, this is none of your business,” Trevor growled glaring only at Sypha.

Alucard put his fists on his hips like a mother telling her naughty children off. “Last time I checked we were in my Castle, in my home, so I’m not staying out of it. Stop shouting and start acting like you’re adults.”

“I’m acting like an adult!” Trevor and Sypha said in unison, and Alucard snorted.

“That’s a nice harmony you’ve got there, just keep it up. Your baby needs you now, so go to him and … do whatever it is a baby needs, we have better things to do than fighting amongst us.”

“Look who’s talking! Soon you’ll be in the same shit with your own kid that we are in with Leon now, Alucard. Let’s just see how wise and calm you’ll be after weeks of sleepless days and nights,” Trevor gabbled.

Alucard glanced away with a grimace. “Who's the dick now, Belmont?" he asked pointedly. "If only I had to solve problems like changing nappies instead of trying to figure out how to keep my wife and child alive.”

Trevor fidgeted embarrassed.

Alucard went on. “You can educate me then all you want. But until then, just lose the attitude and take it like a man, Belmont.”

Sypha squinted at Trevor, and Alucard could see she was close to tell her husband off for putting his foot in it, but seemed to have changed her mind and just put her hand on the handle of the door. She then stopped short looking at them wide-eyed.

“What is it?” Trevor frowned startled then blinked realizing something too.

There was silence. Leon was not crying anymore. The three of them exchanged glances before Sypha pushed the door in, and they filed into the room. Alucard winced bumping into Trevor's back when the two parents stopped short, and they all looked ahead at the tall dark figure in the middle of the room cuddling a tiny bundle in his arms: Dracula gently nursing the baby.

“What the fuck-”

“Ssssh-shut up!” Sypha cut Trevor’s yell off, her eyes glued only on her baby.

Little Leon was more peaceful in the arms of the savage vampire king than he ever had been in the last weeks. He made cute cooing sounds as Dracula wiped his tears away.

“There-there, no need to cry,” he said, and Leon wrapped his tiny fist around his boney index finger – and Dracula gave him a smile.

“What the fuck?!” Trevor whisper-screamed, and Dracula shot the parents a patronizing glance.

“If you have no idea about babies, how about taking a book in your hands? If you can read at all, Belmont.”

“How did you get in here?” Sypha asked, her voice trembling.

Dracula snorted. “It wasn’t exactly difficult. This used to be my Castle for a few short centuries, I know my way around.”

“What spell did you cast on him?!” she demanded stepping to him, and the flame-shackles around Dracula’s wrists flared up.

He winced. “Au! If I wanted to eat your offspring, woman, I’d have done it while you were sleeping.”

“What is that thing?” Sypha asked frowning, her fury changing into confusion. Alucard focused on the baby: there was a furry hot-water bottle over his stomach.

Dracula looked back at Leon. “It is nothing magical or mystical. His insides are not used to the food you are giving him instead of your milk. It gives him tummy-aches, and the warmth of the bottle eases the cramps.” His voice was low, almost soothing, his features uncharacteristically soft. “I learned it the hard way with Adrian too, while his mother was bed-ridden. A few sleepless days, and you start thinking out of the box.”

Alucard felt a lump forming in his throat. For that one sentence, that tiniest instant, his _father_ was there. Not Dracula. Not their enemy. Not the mass-murderer who impaled the neighborhood. It was the man who loved him and took care of him with such gentleness only his mother could ever imagine him capable of giving.

The fire crackled in the fireplace making their shadows shudder on the walls, and as the moment wore on, little Leon’s breathing evened out. Dracula wordlessly handed him to Sypha. The baby barely even stirred.

Dracula looked at the three of them with a strict twitch of his brow. “Say goodnight to him, and let us go back to work already.” He then glanced back from the door. “Not you Belmont, we ran out of connect-the-dots puzzles, so you can go back to polishing that ridiculous pendant on a chain that you call a weapon.”

Trevor growled, his fist grasping his whip as he watched the door closing behind Dracula.

“Back off, Belmont,” Sypha waved him off, and took Leon to his small bed. “We already know it has barely any effect on him.”

“If I see him anywhere near my son again, we’ll test that again.”

“He did manage to calm him, didn’t he,” Sypha said walking back to them.

Trevor gaped. “So what? We’re hiring him as babysitter?”

“His powers are bound, he-”

“Bound. He appeared out of nowhere in our son’s room, he managed to make you absolutely fine with him cuddling our baby, and your only response is that his powers are bound. Do you even hear yourself, Sypha?”

Leon stirred, and they all froze. Alucard could tell that the parents were praying to whatever gods they could make up, so that the baby wouldn’t wake. They exchanged glances, and in a united effort, neared the door, opened it, filed out, and closed it without making even a noise that a vampire’s ears could pick up.

Trevor took a breath, and Sypha crossed her arms.

“Do you want to go on fighting?”

“You’re completely under his influence!" Trevor snapped. "And you don’t even bother to notice it.”

“I told you, his powers are bound. The rum from your breath would have a greater influence on me than Dracula does!”

“If that’s true, what in heaven’s name makes you think that a savage murderer could be fit to even touch our baby, let alone tend to him, ha? What?”

“He did!” Sypha said pointing to Alucard.

He blinked a little surprised.

Trevor glared at him. “Alucard had a human mother! I doubt Dracula had anything to do with him as long as he was wearing a nappy.”

“Uhm, actually that’s not true,” Alucard butted in. “My mother was sick for about a year after I was born, so my father had to take care of me almost completely alone.”

Trevor looked at him distracted. “You know what, you just muzzle it, no one asked you. And the fuck I care if he brought up a litter of puppies single handedly. He is still Dracula!”

“You know what? I don’t care about it either! I don’t care if he’s the devil or the patron saint of sleepless mothers in disguise,” Sypha sputtered. “Our baby’s sleeping! After weeks, he’s sleeping. So would you just cut it out? Just go about your business getting drunk or whatever it is that stops you shouting at me so that we could go back and do our jobs in the library!”

Trevor stared at her for a moment longer then snorted and held up his hands. “Fine. I’ll stop. What is there to complain about, right? Our sister is abandoned in the arms of savage night-creatures and psychopaths, while we jerk off on books for weeks and that's totally fine! Vampires nursing babies? No problem. Speakers learning _dark_ magic. What would go wrong? The whole fucking world is standing on its head, but hey, it’s fine with you? That’s fine with me too.”

“Trevor…”

“No-no, it’s fine. This is marriage after all, isn’t it? _I_ wanted it, didn’t I? The retarded idiot, good-for-nothing babysitter...”

“Trevor…” Sypha whispered, trying to touch him, but he flinched away.

"Don't let me keep you from your work." He swirled around and disappeared in the darkness of the corridor.

Sypha slouched, and Alucard could see the tears in her eyes. He was sure neither of them wanted to go as far as they did and now, she seemed desperately alone. He stepped to her and pulled her close. She held tightly on to him, and he soothed her gently.

His eyes then wandered to the opposite room: his father’s study. Beyond that, there was the mirror – and through it he could watch Mia. He sighed. It was late at night. She must have been sleeping. He wished he could just sneak a peek of her. Just to numb that unappeasable longing for her… Even if for a few seconds. He sighed to relieve the tightness of his chest.

Sypha wiped away her tears, and Alucard let her go. Then with a last glance at the study door, he followed her back to the library.

* * *

Mia woke to the eerie sensation that somebody was watching her. She gingerly sat up and her eyes met the gleaming eyes of her guards: the Cerberus and the Gargoyle. Of course. Of course she was watched. She’d been watched since she joined the merry band of the two forge-masters and their pets. She got up and went outside. The creek running by the abandoned mill they were staying at was chattering cheerfully as it reached the water wheel. She walked down the narrow path to the creek as she did every morning since they settled here. She was allowed to walk about as much as she wished with the night-creatures on her heels.

The sun was shining, the weather was brisk but beautiful. She rubbed her arms to generate some warmth. At the creek she washed her face and hands, then she went for a short walk. Along the path leading into the sun-lit forest, she collected whatever sturdy herbs that still could be seen in the frost. To occupy herself, she took on creating some creams and potions from recipes she still remembered from the time he spent at the nunnery.

After a good hour, she headed back. Her morning sickness subsided, and she was ready to eat. The Cerberus and the Gargoyle huffed and puffed behind her. Perhaps they were hungry too, she mused, glancing behind. She got back to the tiny cottage of the mill and filled the shallow trough with water. The night-creatures scrambled around it to get a drink. She watched them cursing her traitor heart. The more time she spent in their company, the more she was convinced that they weren’t actually pure evil. They were just instinctual creatures much like animals. Albeit with some fury and bloodthirst in their hearts. She turned away and started to go inside. She immediately felt a presence behind her. She sighed. They were not bad. But they were used by bad people.

She reached the spacious kitchen. The walls were covered with embroidered hangings that depicted stories from the Bible with the relevant verses. The women of the family that had lived here made a lot of effort to honor their god. She went to the cupboard and took out the bread and some butter. Fortunately, plenty of food was left by the previous dwellers – probably, unfortunate for them. Mia sat to the table, and her guards squatted to her feet. As she was feeding them, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

“You’re munching like dogs.” She sighed. “I used to have a dog once...” She gazed outside. “It was in a similar cottage, but in a much warmer country. Much different times.” Thinking of her love filled her eyes, and she wiped her cheek. “Just let him be alright...”

She felt a warm bristle fur under her fingers, and she snatched her hand away frightened. The Cerberus gazed up at her almost as if he wanted to console her.

Her fear lessened and she frowned as a strange realization started to form in her head. She raised her hand and reached out slowly toward the creature. It didn’t wait until her hand reached it. It pushed it’s middle-head to her palm and let her – almost demanded her – to pat it.

“Where’s the bloodthirsty savage monster? Perhaps, I’m not far from the truth if I venture that you’re killing on order, aren’t you? At least when you’re not hungry.” She looked at them pondering. “You do not belong here, do you? Do you want to be here at all?”

The creatures started to pace the room restlessly and even showed their fangs that made Mia regret her previous question. She held up her hands.

“Believe me if I had the power, I’d send everybody back where they long to be, myself included.”

The Cerberus then tucked at her skirt, and she frowned at it startled. The Gargoyle at the door waved its winged claws almost as if it wanted to motion to her and Mia grudgingly relaxed.

“What is it?” she asked standing.

The Gargoyle went outside and came back in. The Cerberus nudged Mia forward so gently that she almost fell.

“Oh, you want to show me something?”

The creatures started to huff and puff again, and she went after the Gargoyle who led her outside, behind the cottage to the cellar door. Two other night-creatures were standing guard there, and Mia watched surprised as the Cerberus seemed to communicate with them somehow, because after a few growls, the creatures stood aside and allowed the Gargoyle to open the door. Mia stared into the gaping darkness, a cold sensation crawling up her spine.

“You want me to go down _there_?”

To her chagrin the night-creatures pretty much seemed to nod their assent.

She looked at them with a frown. “Please, tell me you’re not trying to eat me in secret down there.”

The Cerberus ran out of patience and nudged at the small of her back again. She grasped the rusty railing just in time before falling down the steep stairs.

“You’ve got to stop doing that!”

She held on to the railing and groped down into the darkness. She felt the fur of the Cerberus under her palm again, and she allowed it to lead her around a corner where a torch was already alit.

She frowned. “This is new.”

She took the torch and looked up and down the dark corridor. It was a wine cellar, Mia recognized it with a hint of surprise because in this part of Wallachia the climate didn’t allow for much winery. The Cerberus started to walk again, and she followed it, occasionally turning back to see if the forgers have followed them. By the time the light from outside completely died away, the noises they made were replaced by the drumming of her heart in her ears. This was a very bad idea, but the night-creatures seemed adamant about it, so she went on, following the corridor.

An eternity and five minutes later, she heard water dripping and saw a faint blueish light. She squinted trying to focus on it. Daylight? So deep underground? And then she heard it. She stopped short to listen. It was not the natural sounds and echoes of the cellar. It was the unmistakeable voice of a human. A human softly crying. She gasped. What was this?!

Mia quickened her pace and reached a narrow doorway with a heavy oak door. The Gargoyle pushed it in, and she stepped inside trying to understand what she saw before her. It was a cell. A prison cell with strong bars that shone coldly in the sunlight streaming inside through a wide, thin hole in the cell’s roof. She frowned: what was the point to fuss with bringing down the sunlight if you have the torches?

She held her torch up and cautiously went closer to the bars.

The next thing she saw was a wisp of white hair and then sharp fangs snapped right in front of her face. Her back banged on the wall as she recoiled terrified, and the torch rolled off on the ground. But the next moment a tortured scream emerged from the creature’s throat - followed by the smell of burned flesh.

Mia pressed into the wall breathing heavily. She tried hard to stay on her two feet, but it proved to be quite a challenge: her knees suddenly felt like jello. She tried to collect her thoughts and when her heartbeat slowed to close to normal, the answer presented itself.

“A vampire...” she whispered. “A vampire in a sunlight cage.”

“Correct, human,” the voice came from deep within the darkness, and to Mia’s surprise, it belonged to a female. “Now, be a good little cattle, reach inside again and do what you were born for: feed me!”

Mia looked at the Cerberus with new-found shock. “You brought me down here to feed her?”

To her stun, the night-creature rubbed the back of its middle-head to her calf.

“No, you probably didn’t, but why did you show her to me?”

She squatted down to retrieve her torch and advanced to the bars again. As the torchlight reached the far end of the tiny cell, Mia gasped shocked: there were not one but two vampire women inside. One was darker haired and more fragile in form crouching in the corner. The other, taller one squatted to her almost protectively. They both seemed sickly thin - and rather not just seemed.. Mia clearly could see their ribs sticking out their thin pale skin because they were both completely _naked_.

“God…”

The white-haired vampire snorted. “You invoke his name here? On the threshold of hell?”

“Who are you?” Mia asked softly.

“What does it matter to you? You, a human who stinks of Dracula!”

It took Mia a moment longer to realize what she meant. “The baby. You can smell that I’m pregnant with Adrian’s baby.”

The woman stood and went closer, but this time cautiously avoided the light playing gloatingly on the bars. “The grand-child of Dracula. You wouldn’t even be proper food if I could reach you.”

“What is your name?”

“Carmilla, if that information makes you happy.”

“And your friend?”

“My sister … Lenore.”

“How did you end up here? Who locked you up?”

“Our own weakness,” Mia heard, but the voice belonged to the other vampire. She coughed painfully and hugged her knees shaking from the cold or from some sort of vampire fever or from hunger Mia couldn’t tell. Her waist-long unkempt strands surrounded her petit form and probably were the only thing keeping her from freezing to death in the ice-cold cell. She was obviously very sick, maybe even dying.

Mia knew she couldn’t just simply walk off and leave them to their fates. She needed a plan to help them, but first, she needed to give them what little comfort she could. She stuck the torch into a hole in the wall then untied the wide cloak of her Speaker robes. They were still torn from the stab she had taken on the battlefield, but at least, she managed to wash the blood away completely.

“Here,” she held out the garment through the bars. Carmilla gazed at her as if looking at a complete lunatic. “Take it, and wrap your friend in it tightly before she freezes to death. I’ll come back and bring you proper clothes, and water and whatever I’m able to. Take it.”

A shocked chuckle blurted through Carmilla’s lips. “You’re a fool. A lunatic!”

“Does it make a difference if a fool or a sane person tries to help you? Just take it.”

The vampire stared at her then reached out tentatively.

Before she could touch the fabric, however, black lightning grasped her body, and she collapsed with a scream. Mia gasped noticing finally that Carmilla wore the exact same slave-ring that she’d seen on Hector’s finger. And it gripped her in the dark lightnings of pain.

“It is not clothes that they want from you!” Mia heard, and her arm was pulled out from between the bars by a steel grip. She was shocked to look straight into the maddened eyes of Hector. He shook her. “It is your blood!”

She pulled her arm away. “You?! Of all people, you? You keep them like this?! Naked, starving and sick! Like animals! How dare you?”

“That is what we are in their eyes: animals, my lady. They just get a taste of their own soup. Believe me they don’t deserve better.”

She gaped. “How-how can you say that? Of all people, you! You, who should understand what it is to be a slave!”

“Oh, I understand! I understand it more clearly than you’ll ever know, my lady. _They_ made me understand!” Hector yelled pointing to the vampires.

Mia watched his rage thunderstruck. Barely ever had she seen the kind of hatred that his eyes reflected in that moment. It had to have a reason. She looked to the women who were holding on to each other tightly in that dark corner, trembling, terrified. Stripped of all hope.

She shook her head. “This is wrong.” She looked into his eyes pleading. “You know it is wrong. Allow me to tend to them. They cannot harm me as long as I have vampire blood running in my veins.”

“No.”

“Hector, I’m not asking for their freedom, only for a measure of humanity, please.”

“I said, no!” he yelled making Mia recoil. He wiped the hair out of his face taking a step away from her, and she was not sure if it was because he regretted scaring her or just didn’t want to be tempted to hurt her.

Her hands came up into fists, fear replaced by anger. “So what’s the plan?” she asked straightening her back. “You make them starve to death and watch it?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“You hurt them the way they hurt you, and you think you’ll feel better?”

He stopped at the bars, and Mia could tell his eyes were _drawn_ to the sick woman against all his will. She bowed her head. Yes, there had to be a reason. And her anger dissipated. She stepped up to him.

“This is not making any of what she did right. And it’s not going to change the way you feel. Not about yourself.” She touched his shoulder. “And not about _her_.”

His head snapped to her and that all-consuming hatred returned. He grasped her tightly, she could feel the hotness of his rage on her lips. “You don’t know the first thing about how I feel. Stop messing with my head, or by god-”

“By god, what, ha? You lock me up with them? Because that’s all you’re capable of, both you and your friend? Torture and pain and more torture! I thought you were different from him. But you’re not his suffering slave, you’re his lapdog! Ready to do his bidding the first chance you’ve got.”

Her head banged on the hard stone bricks of the wall. “Don’t you dare say that again!” Hector said panting.

“Or?” Mia whispered. “You think you’re frightening me, little man? I’ve seen a thousand times worse than you are.” Her eyes instinctively dropped to her chest – to her whipmarks. Yes, a million times worse…

Hector’s eyes followed hers, and Mia could tell he noticed her whipmarks too – and she could tell he had little care of them, feeling the heaving chest of a woman pressed up against his so tightly. Her body tensed in his grip but when she met his gaze, she didn't see the depraved joy of the conqueror. All she saw there was the frightened confusion of a little boy.

Before she could follow that train of thought though, Hector yelled in pain, the source of which Mia immediately knew. She looked up to meet the dark gaze of Isaac.

“Stop it, please,” she breathed and with the black lightnings gone, Hector collapsed into a whimpering mess.

Isaac stood above him. “I told you not to touch her.”

“It was my fault,” Mia said stepping opposite him.

Isaac stared blankly at her for a moment longer than made a polite motion with his hand to the doorway. She obeyed and the forge-masters escorted her out.

Outside, some night-creatures were chewing on the flesh and bones of their brothers – apparently the ones who used to guard the cellar entrance.

Mia recoiled appalled, all color draining from her face.

“Don’t turn your gaze away, my lady,” Isaac said. “They paid the price of _your_ curiosity after all.”

She swirled to face him. “You don’t care who or what is killed, as long as it’s appeasing your bloodlust, isn’t it, Isaac?” she hissed.

“There’s no bloodlust involved. Only responsibility. Speaking of which,” he turned to Hector and reached to his belt.

Mia watched shocked as he took it off, and she finally recognized what it was a whip with nails. Hector watched him shaking, terrified. She stood in front of him and glared into Isaac’s eyes.

“Don’t you dare touch him.”

Isaac frowned. “Why are you protecting him, my lady? He is my right hand, he is creating night-creatures, and he’d been violent to you a moment ago. What reason can you have to protect someone like that?”

“No one deserves the torture you’re putting him through. Can you not show even an ounce of mercy? Of humanity?”

“Mercy, my lady?” Isaac said pondering. “Very well.” He motioned with his hand, and the Gargoyle took her by the arm. “Let us spare the lady. She is too caring to see any display of discipline.”

She gasped. “No…” she moaned, but the Gargoyle dragged her away and the moment she was inside, she heard the cracking of the whip.

She collapsed on the bed putting a hand in front of her mouth. All her terrible memories of her getting a cruel whipping while she was a slave emerged, and she could feel the burning of the lashes as if they were happening that very moment. She shuddered every time she heard the sound, and as if driven by instinct, tried to swallow her ensuing sobs. And so did Hector ... she heard no sound of him at all.

She felt a light touch on her shoulder, and her head snapped up to look in the glinting eyes of the Gargoyle. She wiped her tears.

“This has to end,” she whispered. “We have to do something.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what, but we’ll think of something.”

The Gargoyle nodded, and Mia stood to look out the window.

Isaac and Hector were walking off – the latter stumbling hunch-backed along the path.

She turned back to the Gargoyle. “We’ll need some allies!” She pointed at the creature. “You take care of your kind. I take care of mine.” She looked back at the leaving humans. “And we’ll put an end to it forever,” she whispered determined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading - and enormous thanks for bearing with me! I guess my excuse is that I'm a flow-writer: when I'm in the flow, the pages come one after the other. If I'm not in the flow, well you see the result then... Being in the lock-down doesn't help, but I'm guessing I'm not the only one experiencing a kind of burn-out of virtually EVERYTHING you can do all alone. Writing is awesome when you can choose from a hundred things and you do it out of pleasure. If it's pretty much the ONLY thing you can do because everything else is forbidden, well, that's when you have writer's block :( I hope you guys are holding out in this difficult situation we share in all over the planet, and especially that you all are healthy and safe!
> 
> Let me know what you think of the turn of events. Carmilla and Lenore are pretty much the two characters in Castlevania that I hate the most - maybe more than Sumi and Taka. Those were just idiots. But these two...grrrr.... I'm with Hector on keeping them in a cage until their skin dries to their bones - but Mia is a pacifist. She has to try to save everyone, what can we do... :)


End file.
